Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G. Parameshwara has termed reports about Unique Identification (UID) Project chairperson Nandan Nilekani being his party’s choice to contest from Bangalore South in the Lok Sabha elections as a “rumour”.
“I have heard about this only through the media. These reports are based entirely on rumours. There is no such move. Any recommendation has definitely not gone from us,” he said here on Wednesday.
Denying that Mr. Nilekani’s name emerged as a probable candidate during the observers’ meeting recently, Dr. Parameshwara said: “I am not aware from where this report has emerged. It appears like it has been planted from Delhi. There is no material in it. I would have known if there had been something like that.”
Although the party had decided to field in the Lok Sabha elections only those who have been Congress members for at least three years, Dr. Parameshwara admitted that there could be “some exceptions”. He added that this did not mean that Mr. Nilekani would be the candidate.
Rumours have been doing the rounds in the last two days that Mr. Nilekani’s candidature was being considered by the party for the Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency.
There were even reports that All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi was interested in fielding Mr. Nilekani.
