Nandan Nilekani's dive from UIDAI into YouTube

Nandan Nilekani, author, former head of Infosys and the key driver of India's ambitious Unique Identification project ' Aadhaar' has stepped out of his Delhi office and hit the campaign trail in Bengaluru.

The prospective Congress candidate from South Bengaluru is up against BJP heavyweight Ananth Kumar. Nilekani has tweeted a link to a YouTube channel he has begun 'Championing Bengaluru' , which will have videos discussing the needs of Bengaluru and the country.

Nilekani's candidature has been criticised by some of his peers and members of other parties who have claimed he knows little about the real issues Bengaluru faces. He is thus using every tool in the book to reach out to his constituents. The channel and other such digital initiatives are intended to constantly engage with and even solicit feedback from his voters.

Another video on YouTube shows Nilekani dressed casually in a purple shirt talking about his humble upbringing and his desire to get into an IIT. In his corporate career, he was almost invariably spotted in dark suits.  Nilekani is seen in the video talking to fellow Bangloreans about a host of issues from corruption to the need to engage with governance.

From what we know of Nilekani, this is perhaps the beginning of a digital blitzkrieg as the campaign gathers steam. 

*An earlier version of this story inadvertently attributed a quote to Nandan Nilekani, which has been removed.