Murthy & Patil - Two new IT leaders in Karnataka

N.R.Narayana Murthy and S.R.Patil share the same goal - to lift export income from software services.

Whilst Murthy is well known, Patil is not because it is less than a week since he assumed charge as Karnataka's IT and BT minister. At 66, Murthy is just a year older than Patil.

But look at the reactions that followed their appointments.

When S.R.Patil was sworn in as Minister and given IT & BT portfolio on May 26, former Infoscion and Manipal Global Education Services Chairman Mohandas Pai tweeted, "it is a sad day for us."

Pai's friend and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's tweet read, "Patil has a good reputation. I look forward to his support for IT and BT, but surprised that younger tech savvy person not picked."

They later explained to the media that they would have loved to see a tech-savvy young politician at the helm of IT & BT, instead of someone in his mid sixties. Patil, a science graduate from the northern Karnataka region of Bagalkot district, has hit back saying he understands the importance of technology in today's world and, he will work towards almost trebling the IT exports from Karnataka by 2020.

In sharp contrast, Narayana Murthy appointment as Executive Chairman of Infosys has evoked cheers and, soundbytes of hope. All those investors and stakeholders who bet on Infosys are hoping Murthy will be able to pull off a miracle and, put the bellwether back on the rails of industry-leading growth. Shares of Infosys ended 2.79 per cent up to Rs 2,407.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday, even as the bourse's benchmark index Sensex was down 2.25 per cent.  

Both Murthy and Patil have their tasks cut out. While one has to show by performance the decision to bring him back was a right one, the other has to rise to the occasion, and prove Pais and Mazumdars were wrong.