Sasikanth Senthil says he is not after the post of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president

A day after giving up his four-day fast against the Union government’s non-disbursal of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds to Tamil Nadu, Congress MP for Tiruvallur Sasikanth Senthil denied that he had resorted to the protest as he was vying for the post of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president.

“I will refuse the post even if it is offered to me. I am holding bigger responsibilities at the national level, and my first priority is to defeat the BJP nationally. Right now, the TNCC is led by K. Selvaperunthagai, and I extend my complete support to him and I have full confidence in him,” he said.

Mr. Sasikanth Senthil also dismissed the criticism that his protest had taken the attention off Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chori’ campaign. “A political party like the Congress cannot have just one issue to highlight,” he said.

The MP said he decided to end the protest because he managed to highlight the issue of non-disbursal of SSA funds to Tamil Nadu and a few other States. “The school fees have not been reimbursed for two years. There was an urgent need to address the issue. Now, we need to focus the attention on the issue, which can be done only through organisational support. Also, many leaders were concerned about my health. I didn’t end the protest under pressure from any leader,” he said.

Some senior Congress leaders that The Hindu spoke to, however, said the protest was unnecessary when the issue had already been taken up by the State government in the Supreme Court.

A senior leader said, “I don’t think he got permission from the State leadership for the protest. The whole issue of a few States having been denied funds for not agreeing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) came to light in January. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had made it clear that he would never implement the NEP. What is the need to protest now when there is a nationwide campaign undertaken by the Congress? He went against the party… He was asked to end it by the national leadership.”

However, another leader said Mr. Sasikanth had a bright future in Tamil Nadu politics and those who criticised him were motivated by internal party politics.