Nilekani willing to fight Lok Sabha polls on Congress ticket

However, he has not decided as to which constituency he would contest from

Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India and co-founder of Infosys, on Friday expressed his willingness to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket. However, he has not decided which constituency he should contest, as the party has to take a call on it.

Talking to reporters after interacting with students of Christ College in Bangalore on Friday, he said, “I certainly believe I should do something in politics. If the Congress gives me a ticket, I will contest the Lok Sabha elections this year.”

He said talks were still on within the Congress as to which constituency he should contest. “I would join the Congress, as it has been very supportive to my ideas,” he said.

The Congress is likely to field him from Bangalore South, which has been represented by Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary H N Ananth Kumar for five terms. According to Nilekani, politics is the only means to bring change in society. He suggested more people join politics from various fields, including the corporate world.    

Nilekani had recently met Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara and had expressed his willingness to contest the general elections from Bangalore South.

Parameshwara said the party rules require that a ticket seeker should serve the party for three years. But this could be relaxed by the party high command in the case of Nilekani.

Nilekani quit Infosys as co-chairman in 2009, following his appointment as the chairman of UIDAI.