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Will Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Infosys co-founder, bring luck to the Congress in the constituency which it has been losing from 1991.
Nilekani, who formally joined the Congress party at the KPCC office today, thinks he will definitely win the election from the Bangalore South constituency. The last Congress candidate to win from the Bangalore South constituency was former chief minister of Karnataka R Gundu Rao. He had won in 1989. H N Ananth Kumar, general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has won from the constituency five times in succession, starting 1996.
The Congress, on Saturday, named Nilekani its candidate from the Bangalore South constituency.
"It is time for change in Bangalore and it needs a strong champion in Delhi," Nilekani said after joining the Congress at the party's state headquarters, here on Sunday.
Former chief minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah represented the Bangalore South constituency in 1967 and 1971. In 1977, Justice K S Hegde defeated Hanumanthaiah. In 1989, R Gundu Rao won the seat for the Congress for the last time. In 1991 elections, Venkatagiri Gowda won the seat for the first time for BJP.
"I will bring that change in Bangalore. I am a true Bangalorean. I was born at the Vani Vilas Hospital in Bangalore and lived here throughout my life. Now, it is time for me to serve Bangalore. I have a clean image and I am confident that I will win from Bangalore South," said the 58-year old Nilekani.
Though Ananth Kumar has won five times from Bangalore South, his winning margin has come down over the years. In 2009 polls, he secured just 37,612 votes more than his nearest rival, Krishna Byregowda of Congress. Of the 2,034,910 votes in 2009, Ananth Kumar secured 437,953 votes as against 400,341 votes polled by Byregowda.
Bangalore South constituency is known for the middle class, educated voters and it will be a real test of time for Ananth Kumar who won with a thin margin in 2009. It was also because the BJP was the ruling party in the state then and this time there is no such advantage for him, says political analysts.
