BBMP polls: Nandan Nilekani says he's 'inactive in politics', asks voters to elect the best candidates

Bengaluru: Ahead of the BBMP elections in Bengaluru, Infosys co-founder and former Aadhar chairman Nandan Nilekani made note of the key issues in what he calls the innovation city.

Nilekani was Congress candidate from Bengaluru South constituency in the Lok Sabha election last year.

Speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN, Nilekani admitted that he is now inactive in politics and that he has no plans of playing a role in the Karnataka government.

Top issues in Bengaluru

Bangalore is really an active and throbbing city from an innovation perspective. Since the last few months, I've been engaging with innovations here and it is really becoming the Silicon Valley. To make that happen, obviously, you need much better infrastructure, people should be able to move around.

The city's attraction is creating a virtual cycle. More and more people are coming. It is getting a lot of talent and a lot of companies. But then we need to cope with this whole thing. Coping with this is the big challenge.

Civic issues like roads, lakes, traffic

I think they are all solvable. There is a government in place. They will look into all these issues.

'Ideas of Bengaluru' concept in the city

There are a lot of good ideas. My urban involvement is through two channels. One I am on the board of IIHS (Indian Institute of Human Settlements), which provides a lot of policy work like affordable housing, they are working on a policy for the Karnataka government, climate change issues in cities, transportation.

I also support something called eGoverments Foundation which has built a platform for running cities and being used in cities all over the country. Andhra Pradesh is rolling it out in all their cities. I do it either through the intellectual policy route (IIHS) or through the eGovernments Foundation.

Does Bengaluru need a CEO model of governance?

In my book Imagining India, I've said why cities are weak in India. There are political reasons why cities are weak. Constitutionally, cities were orphans at the time of independence. It's difficult in a state to have a strong mayor. If cities of India have to improve, they need much more decentralization, much more directly elected people to run the city who have a stake in the city's future.

On speculation over getting role in Karnataka govt, focussing on Bengaluru

No I have no such role or such plans.

Are you distancing yourself from Congress?

I am currently inactive in politics. I'm focusing my energy in enterprise and innovation.

Message ahead of the BBMP elections

I think it's important that people vote for the best candidate and make sure we have people who lead the city well.