Former IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil joins Congress in Tamil Nadu

Senthil said that he is joining Congress, which he views as a forerunner of a larger people’s movement in fighting against the “hate politics of BJP” across the country

Former Karnataka cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Sasikanth Senthil, who had resigned as deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district in September saying that the country’s values were being compromised, joined the Congress in Tamil Nadu (TN) on Monday.

Representational photo. (HT Archive)

Senthil said that he is joining the Congress, which he views as a forerunner of a larger people’s movement in fighting against the “hate politics of Bharatiya Janata Party” (BJP) across the country.

He said, “It is not only an authoritative regime, it is a populist system that pits people against people.” Senthil has been a part of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and National Register of Citizen (NRC) movements.

Earlier, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, K Annamalai, who had quit the force in Karnataka in May 2019, had joined the BJP in TN in August and is now the vice-president of the party’s state unit. Annamalai is also at the forefront of the Vetrivel yatra (victorious spear march) launched by the BJP on November 6 without permission from the state government and courted arrest along with several senior leaders. While joining, Annamalai had said that he would work to bring the party’s “nationalist spirit” to TN.