Sasikanth Senthil: IAS Officer Who Resigned Job In Protest Is The Congress Candidate From TiruvallurThe Congress nomination for Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur Lok Sabha constituency has invited national attention as the party fielded Sasikanth Senthil, a former IAS officer who left his government job following the re-election of Narendra Modi government in 2019. Senthil joined the Congress party in 2020. His social media handle X introduces him with a caption ‘Resigned from the IAS in protest. Trying to stay on the right side of history.’
Sasikanth Senthil is a strong critic of the BJP and its ideological push. He has said at one of his campaigns that the 2024 Lok Sabha poll was not an election but an ideological war, requesting the people to cast their votes to ensure the rights of the upcoming generation. He has slammed the saffron party blaming it for communal division and attacks against minorities. He is also one of the strong critics of the ‘one nation-one election’ proposed by the BJP.
It was reported that Senthil played an important role in the Congress party’s victory in Karnataka in the 2023 assembly elections. Considered a Congress war room for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he has attacked many of the BJP’s ideological propositions including the indirect push for Hindu Rashtra. In a recent interview with Decan Herald, the Congress candidate said that Hindu Rashtra is myth. “it will be broken the day the Caste Census is conducted.”
Thiruvallur Lok Sabha constituency, formed in 2008 is one of Tamil Nadu’s 39 Lok Sabha constituencies. It has five assembly segments including Gummidipoondi, Ponneri (SC), Tiruvallur, Poonamallee (SC), and Madhavaram. The SC seat has been represented by the Congress party’s Dr J Jeyakumar who secured the 2019 general elections with a majority of 3,56,955. In 2014, AIADMK’s Dr P Venugopal had secured the victory.
The 44-year-old Senthil has zero cases against him according to his affidavit. He has total assets worth Rs 2.2 crore.
However, as Congress fields the former IAS officer, it hopes it can retain the seat with a bigger majority. Notably, with the AIADMK’s non-alliance with the BJP, the saffron party has fielded its candidates in the constituency. For the past few decades, the BJP has not independently contested elections from the Tiruvallur Lok Sabha seat. With the consistent push by the Prime Minister’s aggressive elections campaigns, the party hopes it can build inroads into these constitutes.