Ananth Kumar confident of emphatic win

Bengaluru: Congress candidate from Bangalore (South) Nandan Nilekani’s growing visibility does not bother his rival and BJP contestant H.N. Ananth Kumar.

When he settled down for an interview, he flashed the “thumbs up” sign and quipped that he was “gung ho” when asked about his prospects at the hustings.

Mr Ananth Kumar, who took a break before embarking on a bike campaign, said he was not aggressive in his replies but was certainly emphatic.

“My emphatic answers are not against you my dear friend. Through Deccan Chronicle, I would like to convey this to readers about the vilification campaign,” he added.

He did not name his Congress opponent when he picked holes in Mr. Nandan Nilekani’s campaign theme. “This is not a municipality election. This is to select a new government at the Centre, a prime minister. If somebody is campaigning about issues such as potholes, gutter and garbage, they are hoodwinking people, challenging the maturity of people,” said he added.

So, how does he define the role of a Member of Parliament? “If someone thinks that they can run the corporation, run the state government by being a MP, it is wrong. The Congress candidate is trying to take people for a ride by skirting issues such as rampant corruption, scams, economic slowdown, and pushing them under the carpet. Why he is not discussing these issues?”

Mr Ananth Kumar maintained that Mr Nilekani was not an outsider. “He is trying to pose as an outsider. He is carrying the guilt of five years of misrule of the Congress party. He represents a Congress’ corruption, he represents Congress’ baggage, and he represents Congress failures.”

Does he feel his victory margin could be thin? “I am emphatic, certainly not aggressive. Some people try to hoodwink people with misinformation. In 1996, when I won first time, the margin was 21 000 votes. In 2009 BJP won the Bangalore (South) seat by 40,000 votes with a poll percentage of 40.1. Here, more than 16 MPs had won with less than 20,000 votes. If a section of the media states that their margin is big and mine is small, I have nothing to say,” he added.

Asked whether he was in good books of RSS or not, he replied: “Did they ever come to you and officially communicate to you? This is a bunch of lies. I held so many posts in the past and even to date. For the last ten years, I have been a national general secretary of BJP, secretary of the parliamentary board and election committee. Do you think this could happen without the blessings of RSS?”