TN Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil Hospitalized Amid Hunger Strike for Education Funds

Swift Summary

• Event: Sasikanth Senthil, Tiruvallur Congress MP and former bureaucrat, is on an indefinite hunger strike against the BJP-led Union government for withholding over ₹2,000 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) meant for Tamil Nadu.
• Health Update: On the third day of his hunger strike, Mr. Senthil was shifted from Tiruvallur Government Hospital to Rajiv Gandhi government General Hospital in Chennai due to high blood pressure but continues his protest from there.
• Statement: He posted on X that he remains resolute to continue until the SSA funds are fully released. He encouraged Tamil Nadu citizens to voice their demands democratically and called out PM Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for releasing Tamil Nadu’s “rightful money” without politicizing ideological differences.

!Tiruvallur Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil

Indian Opinion Analysis

Mr. Sasikanth Senthil’s protest highlights a broader friction between state-level governance needs and federal fund allocations under central schemes like SSA, which aim to improve school education infrastructure nationwide. Withholding such significant sums could stall educational initiatives planned in Tamil Nadu under this scheme.

The hunger strike underscores dissatisfaction with perceived political interference affecting basic developmental efforts in states. While democratic protests are a legitimate tool for raising concerns in India’s diverse polity, prolonged stalemates over federal-state financial transactions can impact trust between governments and broaden ideological divides.

This event emphasizes the need for transparent dialog mechanisms between state governments and the Center regarding fund allocations while ensuring that essential schemes like SSA remain impartial towards regional differences or disputes.

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