I recently saw a video on the legendary Karna. He was noble , a great warrior and known for his generosity. But greatness was not in his destiny since he made all the wrong Choices. When I look at the Bangalore South MP election to be fought between Nandan and Ananth Kumar I am reminded a little of the Karna effect.
Is Nandan the right choice ? A successful CEO of a great company like Infosys – can he make things work for Bangalore ? Whats his track record in UID and Public Affairs ? How has he served Bangalore and the locality he lives in for so many years ? Lets look at 6 Facts and then decide if he can make an impact as an MP from Bangalore South.
1. Aadhar is not a one point KYC
When UID was started there was a lot of hope. Here was the equivalent of India SSN. A one point contact that would resolve all your KYC ( Know your customer) issues. Five Years later and 4000 Crores spent – sadly that dream is far from realised. Most people don’t know where to use the aadhar card. Banks / Credit card Companies / Land Registration etc still insist on a PAN card and a Permanent address proof like your mobile bill or Drivers License or Passport. When you go to vote you need a Voter card and not the Aadhar. The vision that was promised by Nandan is far from reality.
2. Commitment – Is 5 Years good enough to set up an institution
Is the UID chairman walking away from a failed project ? If Metro Sreedharan and NDDB Kurien could spend a lifetime in setting up institutions why is Nandan walking away in 5 years from a project that could transfer this country but is yet to show any significant outcome. (He joined with a lot of fanfare in July 2009). If you are passionate to the cause should you not have spent 10 more years making this a grand success and ensuring that the initial vision is delivered.
3. Supreme Court & PIL on AAdhar
I took a 1/2 day off from office to link my Aadhar card with my HP Gas connection and Bank account. That was mandated – a few days later I was told that the program is being reversed. A lot of promise to make subsidy payments to the poor using Aadhar thereby saving on leakage has been announced but sadly not delivered. Ina corporate you under commit and over deliver – but UID has overcommitted and under delivered. Early signs of a politician in making. There are many PIL’s filed against Aadhar on security of personal information, privacy , misuse – and many have questioned the constitutional validity. I recollect a Supreme Court judgement that it was not mandatory to have an Aadhar card for many transactions. Couldn’t this have been thought through in more detail before spending 4000 + crores.
If you struggle to run a Government institution with so much Govt support – what can we expect from you as a MP ?
4. Bangalore – Koramangla & Nandan
The Facebook site Ideas for Bengaluru was started on Feb 19th with a nice post of visiting beautiful lake / park in Sarjapur . Nandan has been living in Koramngala for many years. I am also a resident o Koramangla and don’t recollect any initiatives that he has taken for the betterment of Koramngala in specific & Bangalore as a whole in so many years. There is an empty barren land a stones throw from his house near the Koramngala BDA complex. This could have been converted into a beautiful park many years back. I don’t recollect Nandan taking any initiative to get this done. For any action on Save Koramngala or Save Bangalore we actually see the other high profile Koramangla residents Rajeev Chandrashekrana and Kiran Mazumdar being more active.
5. How can a MP from a scam tainted , beleaguered losing party help us ?
After 10 years of paralysis and bringing the fast growing economy on its knees chances are that the scam ridden indecisive UPA is on its way out. Do you really want to vote for an MP from UPA ? How can he help ? Karnataka has always suffered because of different governments in Centre & State – at least lets have an MP who belongs to the ruling party. Common sense says that chances of development are better when the MP is aligned with the ruling Government.
6. Views & Ideologies
I am not sure what Nadans views and ideologies are – on education, infrastructure, J&K , Women’s empowerment …. but when I see that he has suddenly started talking about reservations in Pvt Jobs that gets me worried. He had 20 years to do that in Infosys – wonder why he never tried it ? Does he believe in reservations or Merit ? http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-now/daily/reservation-required-in-pvt-jobs-nandan-nilekani/videoshow/32026284.cms
Nandan may be a great individual. Successful , intelligent , great communicator , strategist all the positives we would like to see in a leader. But like the legendary Karna he seems to have made the wrong choice and destiny can be cruel to him for making this error.
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