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4 technocrats who made the move from IT to politics

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Ruchika Goel
New Update
Office politics

Carly Fiorina, who headed IT giant Hewlett-Packard from 1999-2005 has announced her candidature to seek the Republican Party's nomination for the United States presidency. Fiorina had been an executive at AT&T and its equipment and technology spinoff, Lucent, before becoming HP chief. She was also considered one of the most powerful women in business during her tenure at Lucent and HP.

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Could the face of politics be changing? The luring of power and social service has got many corporate biggies to try their luck in the big bad world of politics.

Dataquest takes a look at 4 such honchos who have taken the big leap:

Nandan Nilekani

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nandan nilekani

An Indian entrepreneur who founded Infosys Technologies in 1981, and later became its MD and CEO. Nandan Nilekani later quit Infosys to head Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)—the much talked about and a very imprtant inititative of the former Indian Prime minsiter Manmohan Singh. Sensing that the election waves were in favor of the ruling Congress party, Nilekani resigned from UIDAI in March 2014 to contest the 16th Lok Sabha election from the South Bangalore constituency. One of the most famous and well respected people in the IT industry, Nilekani did not get a very good treatment at the hand of the Bangaloreans, and fared very badly. Last heard, he is on the board of several companies, and delivers special lectures on the role of IT in nation building.

Adarsh Shastri

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Adarsh-Shastri

Inspired by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Shastri felt compelled to join Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). After serving the corporate industry in various MNCs for 17 years, Shastri left his job as the Sales Head at Apple, India and the salary package of more than 1 crore per annum. Like others, he joined politics with a mission to change politics with the values of transparency and probity as espoused by his grandfather, second Prime Minister of India, Late Lal Bahadur Shastri. The MBA degree holder also felt that he would not be able to fit into his father's party, i.e, Congress. He is also involved in the promotion of education and other social cause. He represents Dwarka (Delhi Assembly constituency) of National Capital Territory of Delhi (N.C.T. Of Delhi). Presently, Adarsh Shastri is leading Delhi Dialogue which is an initiative of Aam Aadmi Party to make Delhi a world-class city.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar

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RajeevC

Chased by his entrepreneurial dreams, Rajeev founded BPL Mobile in 1994, which became a major mobile phone service provider, valued at $1.1 bn in 2005. Chandrasekhar is also the Founder and Chairman of Jupiter Capital, a financial services and investment company. Rajeev’s entrepreneurial zeal and major initiatives have won him all round recognition and awards. Politics has become a playground where every big shot from the business and social world wants to play a successful innings. Likewise, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has begun his stint as a politician and is currently serving his second term as an independent member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India. He represents Karnataka and Bangalore Urban Constituency.

V Balakrishnan

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Balakrishnan

Former Infosys CFO created ripples in the corporate circles when he stepped down as the board member of the software behemoth. He then joined the advisory board of an architecture-led IT consulting and solutions firm Avekshaa Technologies to offer his expertise on international business trends, business priorities, and strategic direction. After climbing the corporate ladder and a sterling career at Infosys, he joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Though Dataquest doesn't claim that he is still with AAP. He, however, manifested his will to test the political waters.

US presidential elections is no child's play, and we wish Carly all the best.

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