The Assembly election results in Karnataka has spawned many narratives and conclusions about the voting pattern of various caste groupings, the relevance of personality-driven politics, the extent to which religious polarisation and hate propaganda can mobilise voters and so on.
However, one issue that is being discussed is how former IAS officer (Karnataka cadre) Sasikanth Senthil, a native of Tamil Nadu, who quit the civil services and joined the Congress party in 2019 and was appointed chairperson of the Congress war room in Karnataka, got the better of BJP State president and former IPS officer K. Annamalai in the recently concluded election.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sasikanth said though he understood the comparison, he felt he was part of a bigger system.
“We are all just a part of a bigger system. It was the people who decided to change the government. We both (He and Annamalai) are doing what we think is right. I have never been in the limelight like this before,” he said.
Asked about his future plans, Mr. Sasikanth said, “I personally want to come to Tamil Nadu and work in the State. Tamil Nadu will be my base. But we will be establishing similar connect centres (like Karnataka) in other States.”
“I will be more politically active in Tamil Nadu. I will engage in organisation-building from the ground up. I want to travel and understand the State. Though I am from Tamil Nadu, I was not in the State for almost 11 years (when he was in IAS). I need to get a sense of the State again. I will be doing a lot of travel in the first month.”
Asked how he became the head of the Congress’ war room in Karnataka, Mr. Sasikanth said, “When I came out of service, I thought I will work on strategy. I headed the Tamil Nadu war room and ran ‘Vaanga Oru Kai Paapom’ campaign. After Bharat Jodo Yatra, the second major election we were facing was in Karnataka. It was obvious that I had to work in Karnataka since I worked there for 11 years.”
