Click to play videoNew Delhi: Captain Gopinath of Air Deccan fame has decided to take the political plunge. He's contesting the Lok Sabha elections this time, as an independent candidate.
Captain Gopinath has also found a lot of support from the corporate class. But many ask if his candidature will serve any bigger purpose other than ending up splitting votes?
The man's taken the common man's aspirations to the skies literally before by launching India’s first low cost airline, Air Deccan.
Now he says he is taking the political plunge as he was disillusioned with political parties' response to the Mumbai terror attacks and communal attacks in Karnataka.
“It was not spontaneous. There was no fire in their speech,” he said of the reaction of the current flock of politicians to the horrifying terror attacks.
“I never found any feeling. It was largely a political consideration. The response was weak,” he complained.
Gopinath plans to contest as an independent and will consult with other friends from the corporate world on which of the four constituencies in Bangalore to contest from.
He is aware that he is pitted against political bigwigs and is still a novice, politically.
“I know the chances (of losing) are high. But I am not going there to lose. Even if I can symbolically create that new participation, in making exiting parties accountable, I am happy. If I can catch hold of the collar of an MLA, of a minister, I think I will have achieved my objective,” Captain Gopinath said.
He's out to make a point and he's already finding allies from the top echelons of the business world
Infosys Chief Mentor Narayan Murthy welcomed the interest Gopinath was taking in the political upheavals in the country.
“As long as wonderful people like Meera (Sanyal), I know Meera and Captain Gopinath who are decent people, as long as they have age with them, it is absolutely wonderful,” said Murthy, of course underlining that politicians must be energetic and not too old.
But a conspiracy theory doing the rounds is that Captain Gopinath's candidature is part of the game plan of the two national parties to split the Brahmin vote-bank in the Bangalore south constituency.
In that particular constituency, BJP strong-arm Ananth Kumar is fighting a critical battle.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
