Bangalore, Dec 28 (IANS) Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to become the first IT czar to contest Lok Sabha elections. He has told the Congress of his interest -- and the party is considering his candidature.
Though there has been speculation for weeks that the Congress may field him from Karnataka, his home state, Nilekani has been coy about his intentions. The party was also reluctant to talk about it.
Now, the Karnataka Congress president, Parameshwara, has confirmed that Nilekani had met him and expressed his willingness to enter politics - and contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
"It is left to the party high command to decide whether to field him or not," he said.
Parameshwara believes it will be "a matter of pride" if a man of Nilekani's stature identifies himself with the Congress. He will also bring along youths associated with the IT/BT and corporate sectors.
Parameshwara did not indicate if Nilekani, now heading the Unique Identification Authority of India, has mentioned a constituency from where he would want to contest.
Speculation is rife that he may want to be a candidate from Bangalore South, held since 1996 by the Bharatiya Janata Party's H.N. Anantha Kumar.
Bangalore South is a mix of upscale and poor localities but has sizable youth population working in the IT/BT sectors.
Parameshwara expects the party to finalise the list of candidates for the 28 Lok Sabha seats by January-end. The state unit will submit the list of probables for each constituency in early January.
The Karnataka Congress chief says the state unit, going by the advice of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, will try to give prominence to young candidates.
Indications are that the party has picked candidates for only 20 seats --as the eight sitting members are expected to be re-nominated.
The members are union ministers Mallikarjun Kharge (Gulbarga-SC), M. Veerappa Moily (Chikkaballapur), K.H. Muniyappa (Kolar-SC), N. Dharam Singh (Bidar), R. Dhruvanarayana (Chamarajanagar-SC), A.H. Vishwanath (Mysore), Ramya (Mandya) and D.K. Suresh (Bangalore Rural).
Ramya and Suresh won the seats in by-elections early this year.
Among the party veterans who reportedly want to contest though they have lost previous elections are former railway minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief and former junior finance minister B. Janardhana Poojary.
Rajya Sabha member B.K. Hariprasad is also seeking the ticket.
The BJP too has begun the exercise of finalising its candidates, but the task is likely to be completed only after the party decides whether or not to take back its former leader B.S. Yeddyurappa into the party.
The former chief minister, who is fighting several corruption cases against him and his family members, recently met party president Rajnath Singh when the latter visited Karnataka.
BJP leaders here expect a decision on Yeddyurappa by mid-January.
Pune Porsche car crash: Retired IAS demands transfer of police commissioner; blood samples of other car passengers taken
In the Pune Porsche car accident case, retired IAS officer Arun Bhatia has written a letter to the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission (MHRC). He has demanded the transfer of Pune Police Commissioner
Badlapur Case: Akshay Shinde's family makes serious allegations against the police, and refuses to take the body, the administration is busy convincing them
The family of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur rape case, has made serious allegations against the police. The family says that Akshay has been killed in a fake encounter. The family has refused
The woman started opening the flight gate at 37000 feet: When stopped, she started banging her head and said- Jesus had asked to do this
In America, a woman tried to open the flight door at an altitude of 37 thousand feet. Due to this act, the emergency landing of the flight had to be done, after which the police arrested the woman.
India evacuated Pakistani student from Ukraine: Asma, who got help, said – was in a lot of trouble, thanks to Modi Ji
During the Russo-Ukraine war, the Government of India launched Operation Ganga to evacuate 20 thousand Indians, under which more than 18 thousand Indians have returned home so far. The officers who
PAK National Security Policy: Focus on relations of 100 years of peace with India, the business will not be closed due to Kashmir issue
Pakistan has prepared its National Security Policy. This entire policy will not be made public, but part of it will be released by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday. It has been said in this policy
Sonam Raghuvanshi: 'Confessed to the crime in front of the police, but changed his statement in front of the judge'; New twist in Raja Raghuvanshi case
A heartbreaking incident in Shillong, Meghalaya has shocked the whole country. Now according to the police, Sonam, along with her lover Raj Kushwaha and three others, killed her husband Raja. Now
Who is the host of the T20 World Cup?: ICC and BCCI meeting today to organize the tournament in India or UAE, 6 issues including visa of Pakistan team can be discussed
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will hold talks today about hosting the T20 World. For this, top board officials including Board President
Why it is difficult to break Putin's security circle
Nothing happens immediately in the life of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian President's every move is closely monitored by hundreds of bodyguards, who stay with him 24 hours a day.
Anant Radhika Pre-Wedding: Akon praised Shahrukh in the pre-wedding function, said- love like brothers
Mukesh Ambani's younger sons Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant are going to get married on July 2 this year. Before that, a three-day pre-wedding program was organized in Jamnagar, Gujarat. This
When two political rivals met over a cup of tea!
Kolkata, March 26 (IANS) With political battles simmering in West Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the rendezvous of two rival candidates over a cup of tea and sweets added a
