Despite the Congress rout in the recent Assembly elections in five States, Sasikanth Senthil, who took voluntary retirement from the IAS and is the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee coordinator (frontals and departments), feels that the results will have no bearing on the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In an interview to The Hindu on Sunday, he said the party’s alliance with the DMK was ideological, and it would continue. He felt a larger alliance with anti-Hindutva and regional parties is possible to take on the BJP. Excerpts:
How do you see the recent Assembly election results playing out for the Congress in 2024?
These results or the outcome of any Assembly election may not clearly indicate what will happen in the Lok Sabha election. There is a lot of data that shows there is no great correlation between the two. Historically, the Congress has seen many lows like this. In 1998, when Ms. Sonia Gandhi took over, we were in power in only two States. In 2004, she was able to rally everyone and get back [to power]; 2024 is going to be an ideological battle in which many regional parties and those against Hindutva are going to come together. It will be India vs the BJP. The voting behaviour of people is a unique thing in political psychology. If the party is able to rally and stand with people’s issues, and with the changing world order where India is being surrounded, we cannot say the Congress itself won’t get a majority. It is an ideological fight. I would love for all parties who are against Hindutva to come together in the interest of the nation. The Congress will try for it. It will happen.
Is there a likelihood of the Congress’s equation, in terms of seat allocation from the DMK for 2024, changing after these results?
Rarely there occurs an ideological alliance. This is one. It is not just electoral. The leadership of both parties is very clear about this. The State coalition partners will give a special place for the Congress. I don’t see any reduction [of seats] for the Congress. Tamil Nadu favours Rahul Gandhi as a leader. People know the difference between an Assembly election and a Lok Sabha election. The coalition will only be strengthened with the Congress. We will be able to attract much more votes. There won’t be any reduction or major bargaining.
Rahul Gandhi recently said the Congress should become strong in Tamil Nadu and the alliance should be strengthened. Is the Congress falling behind the BJP in Tamil Nadu in building the party?
The BJP has taken a very aggressive approach in Tamil Nadu. They are overtly loud about it. They had zero presence in Tamil Nadu. The State has always been in their project because they were not able to disturb the ideology in Tamil Nadu as they tried in West Bengal. They have created this perception of a huge churning happening on the ground due to their strong IT team. I don’t think a huge number of people are joining the BJP. As far as perception goes, there’s a huge difference between how they project their work or how the Congress or other parties project their own. The Congress has a core strength, historical strength in every village. But we have to work five times more than the BJP.
When you have an ideology of fear, hate, it is easy to propagate that message through fake messages, fake news that spreads virally. But many are talking about brotherhood, goodness, camaraderie, secularism...it is difficult to spread that message. There’s a fundamental difference in how bad news and fear versus how good news spreads in the social media. We need to revamp ourselves, we need to move forward. The BJP may not gain anything in Tamil Nadu, but the way they are pushing their propaganda will only push the current generation and the Congress to work all the more strongly and towards the roots of what the Congress is.
The Congress’s social media presence is very miniscule. Is there going to be a change?
That will be one of our priorities. We are looking at fundamentally changing things. Our priorities are slightly different. We have more work to do on the ground. Once we start and complete our internal changes, we will be one of the dominant players as far as social media is concerned.
Is the younger generation looking for more prominent roles in TNCC?
Now, more people are willing to join the Congress, not exactly on an electoral sense but on an ideological sense. We should give a forum for them. The Congress should have the right and judicious mix of elders and youngsters.
Comparing your role in the Congress with that of BJP president K. Annamalai, what do you feel about it?
The way the Congress works is different from the way the BJP works. In the Congress , if I was the unit president, I would have probably restricted myself to certain things. The party right now has given me so many responsibilities on the ground that I am happy to do, to build the organisation and the party. This amount of faith and camaraderie… this is not a power relationship that exists in the Congress. My position in the TNCC and the AICC, I have been kept very comfortable, given more responsibilities. But yes, when the time comes and the party says this is what I have to do and move forward, or when I feel this is the time to take it up and move forward, I will place this request to the party. But for the next two years, whoever might be the president, we are focussed on reviving the party, and standing behind him or her.
