Narayana Swamy
Political Analyst
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Sep 18: With hardly eight months to go for India's parliamentary elections, major political parties are already in search of some star candidates who can turn the fortunes in their favour.

Nandan Nilekani, chief of India's Unique Identification (UID) project is expected to contest Lok Sabha election from Bangalore to attract the IT-friendly voters in his native place. Congress has reportedly proposed his name to counter BJP senior leader Ananth Kumar who is trying his luck for the 5th time from Bangalore South.

Ex-infosys chairman Nilekani is a popular personality among the educated classes in the state, specially in Bangalore. His reputation increased after Dr Manmohan Singh offered him the UID project's top post.

Speaking to a leading business daily, Nilekani said, "Although there is no final decision as yet, it is about making a choice at this stage, getting into the mainstream and becoming one who can initiate change for the larger public good."

A senior Congress leader in Bangalore said that talks are on since the last few weeks. "Nilekeni is the right candidate for Congress from Bangalore city as there are several thousands of IT savvy voters who support Nilekani and UPA's IT policy. Very soon, he will be joining Congress," he said.

Nilekani had recently turned down the request of Infosys chief Narayana Murthy's to re-join Infosys.