Nandan Nilekani sets ball rolling for polls

Bangalore: Having begun an informal campaign already, chairman of the Unique Identification Au­t­hority of India, Nandan Ni­le­kani, is now meeting constituency bigwigs in his pursuit of contesting from Ban­ga­lore South on a Congress ticket in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

According to party sources, Nilekeni visited Vokkaliga strongman M. Krishnappa, and over lunch at his home sought his cooperation and also that of his son, Priyakrishna  in winn­ing the seat for the Congress.  The  meeting reportedly lasted over two hours.

The former Infosys top executive has also met over a dozen other leaders over the last  week, and participated in a constituency level meeting convened by the KPCC’s OBC wing chairman, M. C. Venugopal on Monday.

“While seeking their support Nilekeni has told everyone that he will contest from Ban­ga­lore South and dismissed the possibility of his entering parliament via Rajya Sabha, when the question was raised, saying he did not believe in a backdoor entry,” adds a party insider, also claiming that Nilekeni is likely to figure in the  first list of probable candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.

While  the KPCC’s election committee has suggested his name along with that of senior party leader, U. B. Venkatesh, he has the Ban­ga­lore South ticket almost in his pocket, he maintains.

“The AICC’s screening committee headed by Vyalar Ravi, which is scheduled to meet in Delhi later this month, is likely to clear  10 to 15  candidates in the first installment  and Ni­l­ekani is likely to figure in this list,” says the Congress leader, explaining that once the screening committee finalises the names,  they will be given a final stamp of approval by the Central Election Committee headed by AICC president Sonia Gandhi.