Will win seat; Congress and my ideology in sync: Nilekani

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.

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Yesterday I joined the Congress party in the presence of the KPCC president and all the senior leaders of the party, met all the MLAs of my constituency, I have met all the corporators in my constituency, I have met all the block presidents in my constituency.

Rajdeep: I am told some of them were not happy about the fact you were seen as some kind of an outsider?

A: When the candidate selection is happening there are multiple contenders. However once the candidate is selected and once it has been announced and my name was announced on Saturday, I am very happy to say that everybody is fully behind me and they are all backing me to the hilt.Rajdeep: An Ex-Infosys board member Mohandas Pai was quoted in the Economic Times and he didn't deny that saying that Nandan hasn't spent enough time in Bangalore; he has been in Delhi. The issue is of grassroot politics. You have to come from the grassroots or you have to come from the top. Nandan has come from the top. Do you feel that you have parachuted into Bangalore South?

A: Not at all. I am a Bangalorean. I was born in Bangalore in Vanivilas Hospital. I have lived in BTM and Koramangala – that is part of my constituency. I am a local candidate and I have worked on the BATF, the Bangalore Agenda Task Force which was under the leadership of SM Krishna for five years. I spent my personal money, Rs 9 crore to work on city problems like solid waste management, toilets, roads, traffic; so I know the city very well.

Rajdeep: Isn't there this problem that every urban professional who chooses to enter politics will always face that once you enter politics you have to almost become it is believed like a politician, like a conventional politician. How will Nandan Nilekani change – will you have to change yourself?

A: In terms of connecting with people, in terms of responding to their issues, in terms of being available and accessible, yes I have to provide that.

Rajdeep: You will be accessible 24*7?

A: Absolutely, but I will have a system for that. My specialty is building systems. I will build a world-class constituency management system which allows every voter of mine to be able to connect with me and to have a response in a stipulated period of time. So, that is what systems is about, so, I think I am very comfortable that I will be able to do it in a different way than maybe the traditional way but I will do it in my way. However, most importantly, people are looking for a problem solver, people are looking for someone who will be able to address the aspirations of their young and I see a very positive response.

Rajdeep: Are you saying that there is space today for the urban middle class to express themselves through a new kind of leadership?

A: It is not just about the middle class. Everyone in India wants a better life for their children and they are looking for people in politics who know how to create better life for their children. As someone who has been a job creator at Infosys, as someone who has been a leader with Aadhar I know something about creating opportunity at scale for our people and people respect that and can respond to that.

Rajdeep: One of the things that our polls that we have been doing show that there is a mini Modi wave. In urban India, Modi rates very high on the leadership issue. Is there a worry that you and others perhaps have that you will be swept away by this wave, that this election will be Modi versus Rahul Gandhi and that same urban middle class voter will not vote for Nandan Nilekani but will vote for Narendra Modi as their prime ministerial choice?

A: Not at all. If the problem of the Central Silk Board flyover has to be sorted out, if the issue of extending the metro has to be done for Bengaluru city, if we want to do something about the water in Bengaluru you need a strong local MP. It is not going to be done by somebody else.

Rajdeep: How will you be a strong local MP if the mandate is eventually going to go to the BJP? Are you still confident that there can be a UPA-III government?

A: First of all we shouldn’t pass judgement on the mandate right now. Let's wait for the elections. In any case, I think my strength and Aadhaar has shown that is I can work with different ministries, different governments, different chief ministers and get things done. Similarly, if I am an MP I will definitely use all my network of contacts to make sure Bangalore gets the best possible things from the government.

Rajdeep: How difficult was it to take this decision? There is a view, somebody told me the other day that Nandan Nilekani might have been better off in Bangalore if we took an Aam Aadmi Party ticket. Then atleast that stench of corruption which is today associated by some to the Congress party would not have bedeviled you. Did you ever think of the AAP because a colleague of yours from Infosys V Balakrishnan is contesting now from Bangalore Central?

A: I am very happy with my choice. I feel my ideological home is the Congress. I believe in the party, I believe in its vision, I believe in its ideology and I am very much part of that.

Rajdeep: Many would have said that Nandan Nilekani could have come through the Rajya Sabha route. A lot of Congressmen today feel that that is the safer way to come to parliament. Come through a Rajya Sabha route instead of coming through the Lok Sabha route. Did you think of that at any stage that may be that guaranteed you five years in Delhi while Lok Sabha is a huge risk?

A: Why am I doing this? I am doing this because India needs rapid change. Without rapid change our people are not going to be satisfied. Rapid change is best done through politics. If I have to contribute to major political change I have to have political legitimacy and credibility. That can only come from wining a popular election. So, I have to stand for election, that’s it. I am not doing this because I want to spend five years in Delhi or get a bungalow or something, I am doing it to make a difference to the people of India otherwise why should I do this?