After Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Akhilesh Yadav Cuts I-PAC Ties For 2027 UP Poll

In a surprise turn of events, the Samajwadi Party has indicated it will not work with election management firm I-PAC for next year's Uttar Pradesh election, with media reports indicating a mix of legal issues, poll defeats, and internal doubts leading to the agreement being cancelled.

Sources told NDTV I-PAC - set up by poll strategist Prashant Kishor - was contracted to work specifically in constituencies where the margin of defeat in the 2022 election was narrow.

However, Akhilesh Yadav's party will continue working with a second election management and social media firm - Showtime - in accordance with a contract signed around two months ago.

The break-up follows the arrest of Vinesh Chandel, who co-founded the firm with Prashant Kishor and others, in a money laundering case linked to the alleged coal scam in West Bengal.

Chandel was arrested early April by the Enforcement Directorate after raids on his Delhi property. The federal agency alleged a 'hawala' operator linked to the alleged smugglers helped move tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd, the firm that runs I-PAC.

The ED also claimed I-PAC created a model to circulate these funds and convert the black money into white. I-PAC allegedly received payments in two ways - half through banking channels (cheques/online transfers) and the other half via cash, or non-banking channels.

Chandel was released on bail last week.

But the arrest and controversy seems to have given the Samajwadi Party food for thought ahead of the critical UP election, one which could prove to be a make-or-break exercise for Akhilesh Yadav, widely seen as the only credible opposition left against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Indeed, after Mamata Banerjee's defeat in Bengal, the DMK being removed from power in Tamil Nadu - albeit by actor Vijay's TVK rather than the BJP - and Arvind Kejriwal losing control of Delhi, the list of senior opposition leaders standing against the BJP is dwindling rapidly.

However, Chandel's arrest has led to questions about I-PAC's ability to manage poll campaigns, particularly after the results in Bengal and Tamil Nadu this month. The firm worked with the Trinamool and DMK but, unlike previous elections, failed to find a winning formula.

Indeed, in both cases their clients were thumped, with party bosses Mamata Banerjee and MK Stalin losing their own seats; she lost her Bhabanipur stronghold and he lost from Kolathur.

Reports indicate the firm had even begun scaling back operations in these states in the final weeks of the campaign, possibly in response to pressure from the ED over its investigation.

It even downsized teams in its UP offices, reports said, putting a crimp in the Samajwadi Party's poll prep plans. Feedback from the party's ground units also played a role in the final decision.