Nandan Nilekani not on Congress shortlist of candidates for Lok Sabha polls

KPCC president G Parameshwara said Monday Nile-kani “does not fufil criteria”.

“If Nandan Nilekani becomes a candidate it will be a decision of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). It will be good if he contests and he has expressed the desire. We have,however,drawn up a candidate list for Bangalore South as per the party constitution,’’ he said following meetings of a state election committee of the party. Parameshwara said Nilekani was not a primary member of the Congress and had not served the party for five years — which are among the five conditions set by the KPCC for candidate selection for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls along with priority to people with clean records,local standing,and new faces.

He denied reports that a block president of the Congress in Bangalore South had written to the KPCC against fielding Nilekani.

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“He has met me and expressed intent to contest for Lok Sabha. The party has taken it very seriously because people like Nilekani expressing intent to become a Congress candidate is something we are happy about,” the KPCC president said.

Parameshwara said there was a provision in the Congress constitution by which the AICC president can veto a state decision. “On this issue,the decision will be of the Congress president since it is an exceptional case,” he said.

The KPCC president said the state election committee of the Congress had shortlisted candidates for screening by an AICC committee in January on the basis of feedback from local MLAs and other elected representatives. He said a central election committee of the party would decide the final list.