Capt Gopinath may lose polls yet split BJP's votebank

New 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.
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.
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.
27/03/09 Deepa Balakrishnan/CNN-IBN

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Categories: Deccan Aviation Mar 2009