Infosys co-founder and UPA government's Unique Identification project chief Nandan Nilekani on Sunday joined Congress.
The party would be fielding him from Bangalore south constituency, a middle-class centric constituency, known for its antipathy towards Congress since the late 1970s. BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar has won five times from this seat.
"I am proud and happy to join Congress and be its Lok Sabha candidate from Bangalore. My father was Nehru's follower and our ideology matches with that of the Congress," said Nilekani.
"I have created lakhs of jobs and I have experience in private sector and city sector," he said.
"I have a clean background. Time has come for a change, so people in Bangalore south will vote for me," Nilekani added.
Asked about his political experience, he said his role in Aadhar project was a political job.
Nilekani had expressed willingness to join Congress as early as January this year, saying ordinary citizens should join politics as "the biggest change can be brought about through politics".
Read: It's time for BJP's Ananth Kumar to go, says Nilekani