Stand up & deliver in Bangalore Central: AAP to V Balakrishnan

BANGALORE: V Balakrishnan, the former Infosys executive who enrolled in the Aam Aadmi Party on New Year's Day, may enter the poll arena from Bangalore Central constituency. If he does so, he will join his former colleague Nandan Nilekani as a Lok Sabha candidate, albeit from an adjoining constituency and a different political party.

"I’m seriously considering standing (for elections). The party has been pushing me. I have not made my decision yet," said Balakrishnan, who served on the Infosys board. Political parties are fielding an increasing number of professionals, a sign of the middle class’ rising engagement in politics. Besides Balakrishnan, AAP’s other high-profile business executive is Meera Sanyal, a former banker who is contesting from Mumbai.

In the Congress, Nilekani is widely expected to be given a ticket to contest from Bangalore South The Bangalore Central seat is held by PC Mohan of the BJP. The Congress is yet to name its candidate for the seat, which was carved out from the Bangalore North and Bangalore South constituencies in 2008. Areas such as Shivajinagar, Gandhi Nagar and Chamarajpet fall under the constituency.

"My house is in central Bangalore. Why would they consider me for other constituencies?" asked Balakrishan when he was quizzed about the possibility of seeking a ticket from any other constituency. In a previous interaction with ET, Prithvi Reddy, founding member of AAP, had said that Balakrishnan was helping the party with information technology infrastructure , building the organisation and raising funds.

"I had a long interaction with Bala. He said, people often ask me why I quit Infosys. But there is more to life than sitting in meetings all day long," said Reddy, also a member of the national executive committee of AAP. Balakrishnan visits the AAP office in Bangalore most evenings and takes part in discussions on events associated with AAP.

Next weekend, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is expected to visit to give a push to fundraising for the Lok Sabha election. The former chief minister of Delhi will be dining with the "eminent" guests on March 15 and 16.