I-PAC to oversee TRS’ poll campaign

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and political strategist Prashant Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) on Sunday signed a deal to work together for the Assembly polls scheduled in December 2023.

Sunday's deal was the outcome of two days of deliberations between TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Kishor at Pragathi Bhavan, and comes a day ahead of the Congress announcing its decision with regard to Kishor in Delhi.

Kishor had arrived in Pragathi Bhavan on Saturday at around 9.30 am, held day-long deliberations with the CM, stayed overnight at the CM's camp office cum official residence, and continued deliberations for a second day on Sunday.

Under the terms of the agreement, I-PAC will work out poll strategies for the TRS for the upcoming Assembly elections, chalk out the election campaign, launch public outreach campaigns comprising mass information and communication using traditional and new-age media channels, digital platform besides grassroots outreach programme involving elected representatives and key party functionaries. The agency will conduct surveys in all Assembly constituencies

K.T. Rama Rao, TRS working president and IT minister, on Sunday confirmed the agreement. In an informal chat with the media here, he clarified that the TRS was working with the I-PAC and not with Kishor, when the media quizzed him about Kishor making attempts to join the Congress.

"Prashant Kishor introduced I-PAC to the TRS and I-PAC is working for us officially. We are not working with Prashant Kishor we are working with I-PAC. It's an agency working for multiple parties and the TRS is one among them. If Kishor pursues his political career with the Congress, it's his personal choice. Why should we bother about it? The agency will give inputs on election strategies which we will execute," Rama Rao said.

Disclosing reasons on the need for the TRS to engage the services of I-PAC, Rama Rao said, "KCR garu has been running the TRS for the last 21 years but the party doesn't want to miss the digital medium.”

"It will be nearly 10 years since Telangana state is formed and KCR became the CM by the 2023 December Assembly polls. A kid who was ten at that time in 2014 will be a voter now. They may not know the context of Telangana agitation, about why and how KCR fought for statehood. We want to cater to this 18 to 30 age group voters through digital platforms through the I-PAC," Rama Rao explained.

When the media asked about the possibility of Kishor joining the Congress, he replied, "As of now he has not joined the Congress. It's a hypothetical question. Even if he joins, we don't have any problem.  He told us that has disassociated himself from I-PAC and he is doing his own politics. IPAC will be working for us."

When asked whether the agreement will be only for 2023 Assembly polls or 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Rama Rao said, "Let's see how long it will go".