Is the Covid pandemic back in Andhra Pradesh? Anyone who attends the YSR Congress Party’s campaign meetings these days will definitely have this doubt, as youngsters wearing face masks are all over the place. A closer look, though, will reveal that they are the members of I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee), a political consultancy that has been working for the YSRCP for the past five years. And the masks are not for protection against the virus but privacy shields. Apparently, many I-PAC members had faced online harassment by troll armies. And they suspect the involvement of Showtime Consulting, a firm that works for the Telugu Desam Party, as both maintain intel on each other.
Behind the battle on the electoral stage between the YSRCP and the alliance of the TDP, the BJP, and the Jana Sena party is a proxy war between the poll strategists of these parties. Prashant Kishor, the biggest name in the industry, is indirectly backing the TDP in coordination with Showtime, led by the senior poll consultant Robbin Sharrma. I-PAC is helmed by IITian Rishi Raj Singh. All three are bound by their past association with I-PAC, when they played key roles in Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s padyatra before the assembly elections in 2019. After that, Sharrma moved out to make his own company and Kishor got busy with his political aspirations. It is said that a dispute over financial matters led to Kishor completely disassociating himself with I-PAC last year.
Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin May 19, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin May 19, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
