Mar 10, 2014, 08.59 PM IST | Source: CNBC-TV18
Nilekani is happy about his decision to contest the polls and believes he will win this seat. He believes India needs huge change to meet the aspirations of young people. To be an effective lever of change an individual needs to be an elected leader and hence the need to contest polls, he explains.
My father was a Nehruvian. So, I have been brought up with those values. NANDAN NILEKANI Congress member Congress
My ideology and the Congress ideology are completely in sync. The secular liberal values of the Congress are what I believe in," says Nandan Nilekani, who will be contesting the polls on a Congress ticket from Bangalore South. He has been leading the Congress’ Unique Identification Authority of India project.
Interestingly, former Infosys chief financial officer and director and Nilekani’s former colleague V Balakrishnan is the Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate from the Bangalore Central constituency for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Balakrishnan says he does not wish to fight against Nilekani . Nilekani is happy about his decision to contest the polls and believes he will win this seat. He believes India needs huge change to meet the aspirations of young people. To be an effective lever of change an individual needs to be an elected leader and hence the need to contest polls, he explains. Below is the verbatim transcript of Nandan Nilekani's interview with Rajdeep Sardesai on CNBC-TV18
Rajdeep: Are you being brave or are you being foolish
A: I would say that I am taking a considered risk. I have thought about it, I have analysed it, I believe I can win this seat and I do intend to win this seat. Life is about taking risks, about taking the right plunge at the right time. I am perfectly happy with this decision.
Rajdeep: Right plunge at the right time is the question to ask because the question will be asked - why Congress? At a time particularly when there is a sense of an anti-Congress wave particularly in urban India, is this the right time to be a) contesting the election and b) contesting on a Congress ticket?
A: I am very happy to be contesting on a Congress ticket. My ideology and the Congress ideology are completely in sync. The secular liberal values of the Congress are what I believe in. My father was a Nehruvian. So, I have been brought up with those values. It is the Congress UPA government that gave me the opportunity to lead the Aadhaar project and gave me complete political support to make Aadhar successful. So, I am very much part of the Congress family.
Rajdeep: Why make the transition to full time politics? Many would have said that Nandan Nilekani could have helped shaped policy whether it is the Congress government, whether it is the BJP government. To actually get into politics and contest an election, I come back to it, isn’t it a huge risk you are taking? You could fall flat on your face?
A: It is a risk but I think India needs huge change. If we are going to meet the aspirations of our young people India needs huge change. Politics is the biggest lever of change. To be an effective lever of change in politics, one has to be an elected politician, QED (quod erat demonstrandum) I have to stand for elections.
Rajdeep: The question is you are contesting from a constituency where there is a 5-time sitting BJP MP, a strong man in a sense of Bangalore city in Ananth Kumar. So, it is not as if it is an easy run for you. It is not as if Nandan Nilekani simply because you did what you did at Infosys can automatically transfers that to wining an election in Bangalore South. Politics is very different?
A: I agree with that, I come from a corporate, technocratic and governance background but the constituency is right for change. They want a new candidate, they want a fresh clean face. They want someone who comes with a track record of performance. I have performed in the private sector through Infosys, in the public sector through Aadhaar, in urban governance through BATF. I have written a book of ideas, Imagining India. So, I have got varied experiences that I can bring to the table and I get a very positive response when I meet my constituents in Bangalore South. So, I am very confident that I will win this election.
Rajdeep: You may have a fresh clean face but the party that you are part of doesn’t have that fresh clean fresh. One of the reasons why there seems to be this anti-Congress mood in urban India is a sense that the Congress is associated with scams, with corruption, with generally poor governance over the last five years. So, your track record cannot offset the baggage that you carry. You carry the baggage of the Congress party.
A: I think the Congress has done a great deal in the last five years and may be that message hasn't fully gone out. All politics is ultimately local. I believe that when I walk the streets of Bengaluru, when I meet the people of Bangalore South they are looking for an ambassador, they are looking for somebody who can actively represent them. They are looking for someone who brings experience and performance to the table and that is what they are going to decide on. I am very confident about the selection.
Rajdeep: But the Congress party itself – how do you overcome the handicap that people have - this perception that the Congress party allowed corruption to flourish? Ananth Kumar is going to come and say Nandan Nilekani is part of a party which he believes has sphere headed the most corrupt government of post independent India?
A: The record of the BJP in Karnataka was not exactly stellar. They have a huge record of corruption there. I don’t think it is that. I think the issue is about the candidate, the Congress party in Karnataka has done very well. So, there is a positive environment for me to contest this election.
Rajdeep: I remember covering Manmohan Singh's campaign in 1999 when he contested for the first time in a Lok Sabha election. Again clean, urban professional, but the moment he entered electoral politics it was a completely different game out there and he actually lost that election to Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
Would you concede that therefore politics is a completely different game? It is not just about being seen as a brand ambassador, about being seen to have a relatively clean image.
Out there you are going to have to look at caste loyalties, community loyalties, you are going to have to play a different game?
A: I agree that it is a very different game. I agree that I have a steep learning curve because I am entering this for the first time. However, I am doing everything to mitigate that. For example, I am working very closely with the Congress party.