Former IAS officer, S. Sasikanth Senthil, who quit the civil services last year, citing a “totalitarian attack on the country” will join the Congress on Monday.
Mr. Senthil, who was also at the forefront of the CAA-NRC protests, said the time has come for people in India, including political parties, to put aside their minor differences and fight for the larger cause of protecting democracy and fight the majoritarian spirit that was already dividing people.
“It is time that a political solution needs to be found against majoritarianism in the interests of everybody in the country. Even among political parties, small differences have to be put aside,” Mr. Senthil told The Hindu.
The 2009 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer who resigned from service when he was deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada said he was joining the Congress as the party understands the challenges of the 21st century and stands for the founding ideologies of the Constitution of India.
Mr. Senthil’s decision to join the Congress also came after interactions with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. “Rahul Gandhi thinks about issues from the lens of the people of the country. I have had interactions with him, though we haven’t been able to meet in person due to COVID-19,” Mr. Senthil said.
“The time has come for people to unify. This is not the time to harp on differences. We have new challenges and we need to find new solutions. The Congress understands these challenges and is ready for them".
In a letter posted on his Twitter account, Mr. Senthil said the country has come a long way since he resigned in September 2019 protesting against the totalitarian attack on the country. “Many of those, who were complacent and surprised at that time, have now started understanding that India is under the attack of an anti-democratic, anti-pluralistic system in power which poses a threat to the very spirit of the country putting all of us and our children in great danger,” he said.
He said during the last one year, he had the opportunity to travel to many places, participate in various protests, interact with young and courageous students and stand hand in hand with people who had nothing but love in their hearts.
“I was able to contribute my bit to the great anti-NRC/CAA movement which proved to me that people in this country are ready to stand for one another,” he said in the letter.
Campaign for TN Assembly Polls
Mr. Senthil will campaign for the Congress during the upcoming Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu. “Tamil Nadu is the final frontier of these divisive forces and I have a responsibility to help in the fight against this. I strongly believe that the Tamil Nadu people have always believed in social equity and will sacrifice anything to see their children in schools rather than in the streets participating in communal riots,” Mr. Senthil said.
He said he will be travelling across the country following the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and will remain an activist at heart, and try to take the message of fighting vested interests and divisive forces in the country.
When asked about former IPS officer Annamalai joining the BJP, Mr. Senthil said: “Yes, he is a good friend and was a probationer under me. I did not know this side of him. We are in an ideological battle”.