BENGALURU: In its hunt for high-profile candidates, the BJP is said to be considering Infosys co-founder, Nandan Nilekani, from Bengaluru South. Sources said Nilekani, who contested against Ananth Kumar in 2014 and lost by over 2.28 lakh votes, was indeed in the reckoning. The other serious candidate is late Ananth Kumar’s wife Tejaswini.
In 2014, Nilekani was the wealthiest candidate to contest the Lok Sabha elections, with a declared net worth of Rs 7,700 crore. A senior BJP leader said, “Yes, there was talk to bring him into the electoral fray some days ago, but as on today, there is no talk.’’
According to sources, Nilekani had put forth a condition to the BJP that fellow Infoscion Mohandas Pai should be fielded from Dakshina Kannada. Pai said, “No one has approached me. I am not interested in electoral politics.’’If both Nilekani and Pai turn down the offer, BJP is considering Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty. Nilekani was unavailable for comment.