Metroman E Sreedharan to join BJP, says party's Kerala unit chief

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 18

In what is being seen as a major fillip to the party’s prospects in Kerala, India’s “metro man” E Sreedharan is all set to join the BJP.

Kerala state party president K Surendran revealed that the 88-year-old Sreedharan, who is credited with changing the face of public transport system in the country, will officially join during the ‘Vijaya Yathra’, that the saffron party is launching with an aim to expand footprint in the Southern State.

Beginning on February 21 from Kasaragod, the ‘Yathra’ will culminate at Thiruvananthapuram around the first week of March.

While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will inaugurate the ‘Yathra’, Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to be present at its culmination in Thiruvananthapuram.

Sreedharan confirmed the announcement, and expressed he would contest the polls “if the BJP asked him to”.

 “It is for them to decide the constituency. A lot of development works can be done, and I hope to do it by joining BJP”, he was quoted saying. He also criticised other political parties for showing India in a bad light and “failing to do any good to Kerala”.

“Political parties with vested interests are projecting India in a bad light and opposing just for the sake of opposing. Parties like the Congress are creating a bad image for India”, he also said.

The date and place of his joining has not yet announced, however, speculations are rife whether Sreedharan—who is currently overseeing the rebuilding of Palarivattom flyover project—is BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

The flyover had to be demolished after cracks developed after its inauguration and former PWD minister Ibrahim Kunju is facing vigilance investigation

Sources said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), and the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) are making all efforts to complete the reconstruction project by March ahead of the schedule.

The 88-year-old is possibly the oldest entry into the saffron party whereas the unofficial retirement age from politics is 75 years.

However, according to the BJP leaders Sreedharan is “very active and that age is just a number for someone who brings value addition of the highest order to the party trying to build its base on credibility and credentials of good, honest candidates”.

The BJP is also trying to project two former DGPs with “clean image Senkumar and Jacob Thomas”. They too are likely to contest on the party ticket in the forthcoming polls

Upbeat BJP leaders said that the party president JP Nadda has managed a “patch up” between warring factions of Kerala BJP, and also affected a “strategic tweak” in party’s plan to do better than the last elections when it won just one Assembly seat.

In the last election, the party won just one seat, Nemom. Senior leader O Rajagopal who opened the party account in the Kerala Assembly and is now above 90 years, may not be contesting this time, the sources said while claiming a “paradigm shift in BJP’s Kerala strategy” this time.