When bureaucrats join politics after retiring or resigning from service, one question that arises in everyone's mind is whether the former civil servant will contest elections. Many contest elections and serve as lawmakers, but some prefer the “long route” of being among the people for a few years before plunging into electoral politics.
Sasikanth Senthil, a Karnataka-cadre IAS officer in September 2019, wants to be part of the second breed. The former Dakshina Kannada district's Deputy Commissioner joined the Tamil Nadu Congress in November 2020 and is now involved in efforts to rejuvenate the party which is riding on the back of the Dravidian parties since it was ousted from power in 1967.
“My job here is to fight a system which is trying to capture India as such and my job goes beyond constituencies and general political jargon. The whole attention is on electoral politics but this is the time for a political movement. I have been engaging with a lot of cadre on this aspect and I am very happy doing this,” Senthil told DH in a free-wheeling interview.
He was asked why he did not contest the Tamil Nadu assembly elections. Senthil said that he wanted to take the “long route” of meeting people, being with them to understand their life and stay grounded before getting to represent them in the legislature or in Parliament. “Speaking for people's politics is important and according to me, that defines a politician,” he added.
Senthil is now actively involved in the affairs of the Tamil Nadu Congress and played a key role in the much-talked-about visits of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi to Tamil Nadu in January and February this year. The former bureaucrat says he views Congress as a “movement” that stands for the idea of India and not just as a political party.
“Organisationally, Congress has a lot of issues. It had issues historically and it still has issues. But that does not mean that ideology should not survive because the organisation is bad. It is our duty to reclaim the ideology and correct it. I am clear that we cannot let the ideology die just because the organisation has gone bad. I have a solid belief in the current leadership which understands what is happening in the country,” Senthil said.
A vehement opponent of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, he accused the BJP of wanting to create an India of hierarchies, differences and domination of one over the other. “We are not going to allow the categorisation to happen,” he said.
On BJP's Tamil Nadu push, Senthil said the Dravidian land is the “Sparta” for BJP which is “absolutely confident” of making inroads into other parts of the country but not Tamil Nadu. “It is because of the importance given to social justice. They have already realised their brand of politics will not work in this state and they have now resorted to caste politics. This election will show there is a landmass in the country that will not fall for their propaganda,” he added.
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