As a part of Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption campaign and member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Phani Bhushan Kukkadapu passionately did his bit for politics. He went as far as becoming a member of the National Advisory Committee of Hazare’s campaign and handled social media for Arvind Kejriwal’s party. So post that, working for Corporate Infocom and even launching a start-up left Phani wanting. He knew that his heart lies in politics. Plus, other politicians started approaching him with the offer of handling their social media. So he plunged into the world of politics and helped several politicians with their political campaigns.

Phani says that one should always have a neutral opinion and volunteer with medium-sized parties to understand politics

In fact, in last year’s Telangana Legislative Assembly election, he backed six politicians, out of which five won the election. “Since childhood, instead of fairy tales, I’ve heard stories of how during the Telangana Rebellion, my grandparents gave asylum to several people, including Puchalapalli Sundarayya (Founding member of the Communist Party of India and leader of the Telangana Rebellion),” says the 26-year-old, who is also a chess player and has participated in several national-level chess events as a child, hinting towards the fact that politics has been in his DNA. “As a chess player, I would tour several cities with my coach. I got a chance to play against several people. I would always try to understand their psychology,” muses the Khammam-born youngster. 

Phani comes from an activist background. He has even held a hunger fast outside Chepauk Stadium, but, he says that, "One needs to realise that politics is a rat race and the focus is votes."

All this, clearly, led to him taking up politics, indirectly. “I believe that there is no right or wrong, there is a majority opinion and a minority opinion, that’s all,” says Phani, whose alma mater is SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai. “Instead of spending a lot of money on huge meetings, we try to meet people at the micro-level.” And with a core team of 22, Phani wants to work with more politicians.

How they work 

- They check the performance of all the candidates in the constituency to gauge voting patterns that could influence their client
- They understand what makes their client strong or weak in their constituency and their image
- Then they strategise and decide which qualities of their client they need to boost and project and which ones to nullify     

For more on him, click on facebook.com/PhaniBhushanOfficial