)
IT czar and face of UPA's flagship 'Aadhar' programme Nandan Nilekani will soon officially join the Congress in Delhi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief G Parameshwara said today.
"Very soon he (Nilekani) will join the Congress party officially in Delhi in the presence of senior leaders," Parameshwara told reporters here.
He said, "Once he joins the party then it is almost like formalising his candidature (for the Lok Sabha polls), and that decision will be taken at the AICC level."
Also Read
Clarifying that Nilekani's name has not yet been cleared for the Bangalore South parliamentary seat, he said: "It is likely to be considered and final decision will be taken by the Congress president and the central election committee." Ending speculation about his foray into politics, the billionaire Infosys co-founder had announced two weeks ago that he would join the Congress and was ready to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
The 58-year-old, Nilekani, who is the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, has already begun drumming up support, meeting some local Congress leaders, but a section of the partymen are said to be lukewarm to his candidature.
Nilekani is widely tipped to be the Congress candidate to take on BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar from Bangalore South where the latter has won five times in a constituency that has shown antipathy towards Congress since the 1970s. After demitting office as Infosys CEO in 2007, Nilekani had taken charge as head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, mandated to give a billion Indians an identity card.
Stating that Bangalore North and Dakshina Kannada constituencies had been identified by AICC for selecting candidates for Lok Sabha elections through Electoral College, Parameshwara said, "Whoever the electoral college selects, he or she will be the candidate." "We have already identified the Electoral College and the elections will be conducted to elect the candidates."
Candidature for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency has gained significance within Congress circles as veteran congressmen Janardhana Poojary and son of Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily - Harsha Moily have expressed their intentions to seek the party ticket.
Parameshwara also informed that Congress President Sonia Gandhi would visit to Gulbarga on February 1, where she would be inaugurating a high-tech hospital constructed with the help of Union Labour ministry at an investment of about Rs 1,200 crore. He said Gandhi will also take part in the public rally during her visit to Gulbarga.
