I will win this election, Nandan Nilekani tells NDTV

Bangalore: When Bangalore votes for the national elections, its choices will include Nandan Nilekani, the technology entrepreneur and co-founder of software giant Infosys. Mr Nilekani, who was tapped by the government to run its ambitious identity-recognition programme, is running for Bangalore South as a Congress candidate.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Mr Nilekani spells out his vision and how he plans to contest election. Here are the highlights:

• I think politics is the biggest lever of change in India
• When you propose new things your political legitimacy will be questioned and that is why I have to contest Lok Sabha polls
• Underestimated the pace of India. There has been such an astonishing change - the rise of young India, people wanting better governance
• As a technocrat I had reached the glass-ceiling of change I could initiate
• I'm going to win these elections
• I have done a lot of work even though I was named the candidate officially yesterday
• People want performers in politics today, people in Bangalore want a change
• Narayana Murthy has been a mentor for me - I owe a lot to him and my whole professional career was under his leadership
• Congress is my ideological home, I come from a Nehruvian family
• I don't decide my politics based on the flavour of the month
• It's the Congress party and the UPA government which let me do the Aadhaar project and backed me to the hilt
• The Congress party has been very good to me and I am grateful to them for giving me the ticket
• When I went to visit the mosque, they asked me to put on a skull-cap and I think it was a courtesy
• I come from a belief every Indian deserves a fair chance and equal respect
• When I moved from Infosys to government, I severed all ties with Infosys
• Similarly I'm very careful about mixing business with politics
• I would pay attention to campaign reform and election funding reform
• In the last few weeks, I've been meeting all the Congress people in Bangalore and I am getting a very positive response from them
• In the next few weeks, one has to focus relentlessly on execution
• You have to have a very clear strategy on how to reach voters
• I'm approaching it as engineering project - it may look more corporate and technocratic way... but that is who I am
• This is more tiring that roadshows I've done when I was in Infosys
• If I had tried to transition from Infosys to politics, I would have found it extr
• Any reform process, certainly if the scale we are trying ( with Adhaar) is going to have some perturbations
• A lot more IIT-ians in government now... no longer a Stephen's monopoly
• Arvind's contribution to political change is great
  
• Hats off to AAP and his team for political innovations but governance is not his cup of tea
• When you come from an agitational DNA, it is difficult
• As a force of change, they have done a great job
  
• I find Rahul Gandhi very idealistic and committed to change
• I would like to be a part of change. All I can say is that he has the right goals
  If he is the boss, he is the boss
• I have very limited focus...Six weeks and an election to win is all I am thinking about
  
• I have always been a team player. I will be a team player in politics 
• I am a beneficiary of India's growth and success. I have benefited hugely from this country and I really don't have any personal needs - don't need to make money
  
• I'm in politics to make the lives of millions of Indians better
• I'm now investing my time in politics and I am in this for the long haul 
• We have a programme called "Ideas for Bengaluru" and we have a huge number of ideas.
• I'm a problem solving kind of guy and I will solve problems
  
• I decided to join politics 6-8 months back. Initially, my family was a bit apprehensive - my kids are neutral and my wife now is my largest campaign supporter