Two former officials from TN played vital role in Karnataka elections

Bengaluru: The fact that the Congress party came to power in Karnataka despite the fierce competition from the BJP is now history. It is special that both former influential officers of neighbouring Tamil Nadu also worked behind the scenes before the state elections. Among both officers , one was celebrating the victory, while the other felt the bitterness of defeat. Those former officers were none other than Karnataka cadre IAS and IPS officers Sasikanth Senthil and Annamalai.

Sasikanth Senthil is now identified with the Congress, Annamalai, who was known as the ‘Singam of Karnataka’, is the Tamil Nadu State BJP President. Both of them had worked in Karnataka as officials. Sasikanth Senthil, who was an IAS officer, has worked as Deputy Commissioner in various locations . Annamalai is an IPS officer and has done law enforcement work in various parts of the state. Both officers resigned their posts and involved in full time politics.

Sasikanth Senthil, who was an IAS officer, played a great role in the Karnataka assembly elections. He was the head of the war room of the Congress and had formed a team and waged a collective struggle against the BJP government. Senthil had gathered a team of more than 50 youths from Tamil Nadu and other states in the Congress war room by spreading anti-government issues on social media. He touched the hearts of the people by campaigning against the BJP on social media by running ‘PAY CM’ campaigns with CM Bommai’s picture on the government’s failure and 40 percent commission. In the end, Congress won the election and the party came to power unanimously. This made Senthil’s work worthwhile.

Annamalai (38), who was a Karnataka cadre IPS officer, resigned from his post in May 2019 and joined the BJP. He is now the president of Tamil Nadu state BJP and was also a Karnataka election star campaigner. He took part in prime minister Narendra Modi’s road show and drew attention of people. Notably, he placed more emphasis on areas with a Tamil population. However, the BJP lost in the state. Annamalai’s reputation as a popular figure in the state has failed to garner votes to BJP . His hopes of BJP emerging as the single largest party in the elections were dashed. In a media interaction, Annamalai said, “Victory and defeat are part of democracy. success has many claimants, defeat is always an orphan.”