Mohandas Pai questions Congress choice of Pawan Khera for Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka

Bengaluru: Venture capitalist Mohandas Pai on Sunday questioned the Congress decision to nominate senior party leader Pawan Khera to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, arguing that the state should be represented by leaders with stronger local roots.

Khera, a member of the Congress Working Committee, filed his nomination papers in Bengaluru for the Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka.

In a post on X, Pai asked why a "non-Kannadiga" and an "outsider" was being nominated from Karnataka despite the state having several capable leaders.


"Why is a non-Kannadiga, a total outsider to Karnataka, being promoted as a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka? Is there nobody from Karnataka fit to represent the state?" Pai said.

The former Infosys board member said political parties across the spectrum had repeatedly overlooked local representation by nominating candidates with limited links to the state.

"It is time Kannadigas spoke up against all political parties riding roughshod over us and promoting non-Kannadigas to represent us at our cost. This shows total non-respect to Kannadigas," he said.


Pai added that Karnataka belonged to its citizens and not to any political party, and called on parties to reconsider the practice of nominating candidates from outside the state.

His remarks triggered a debate on social media, drawing both support and criticism from users over the issue of Rajya Sabha nominations and regional representation.