Bangalore: Infosys co-founder and technocrat Nandan Nilekani of the Congress party was Friday trailing BJP`s Ananth Kumar by over 35,000 votes in Karnataka`s prestigious Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency as counting of ballots cast in the general election was in progress.
"Kumar has been ahead of Nilekani from first round and surging ahead in other assembly segments of the vast parliamentary constituency to maintain a healthy lead," a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman told IANS here.
Nilekani, who was hand-picked by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to contest from the seat even before he formally joined the party, failed to make inroads in Kumar`s stronghold despite extensive campaigning.
The tech czar quit as the chairman of the state-run Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to contest the election.
With the constituency registering low turnout (55.69) -- though higher than the 44.74 percent in the 2009 election, Kumar appears to have benefited from 10.95 percent increase in voting and from the Modi wave.
Nilekani made optimal utilisation of technology and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to woo voters.
Nilekani, who declared assets worth a whopping Rs 7,770 crore in the affidavit he filed, is the richest candidate across the country.
