'Metro man' E Sreedharan joined the BJP last month (File)
E Sreedharan, the 'metro man' of India, will be the BJP's chief ministerial candidate for next month's Kerala Assembly election, Union Minister V Muraleedharan tweeted Thursday evening.
"Kerala BJP will fight Kerala polls with E Sreedharanji as its chief ministerial candidate. We will defeat both CPM and Congress to provide a corruption-free, development-oriented governance for the people of Kerala," Mr Muraleedharan said.
"BJP, under the able leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modiji will strive to take care of the needs of the people of Kerala. The new Kerala under E Sreedharanji will pave the way for an efficient & effective Govt in the state," he added.
@BJP4India under the able leadership of PM Shri @NarendraModi Ji will strive to take care of the needs of the People of Kerala.
— V Muraleedharan (@VMBJP) March 4, 2021
The New Kerala under E Sreedharan Ji will pave the way for an efficient & effective Govt in the state.
#ESreedharan
The tweets came shortly after K Surendran, the BJP's Kerala chief, threw his weight behind the idea Mr Sreedharan, who only formally joined the party last week, could be the party's chief ministerial face.
"'Metro man' E Sreedharan built (a) bridge in five months without corruption. Not like the flyover which had to be brought down and was reflective of CPM-UDF misrule. We have requested the party to make E Sreedharan the Chief Minister candidate," Mr Surendran said at a party meeting in Thiruvalla.
"(If the NDA)... under the leadership of 'metro man', gets an opportunity to rule the state, we are confident we will be able to implement development works under Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a ten-fold force," he added, according to news agency PTI.
"I will not be working like a politician... I will work like a technocrat," Mr Sreedharan was quoted as saying today by news agency ANI.
Last month, as he outlined his focus areas for the state, Mr Sreedharan told PTI that it would be difficult to achieve his goals "unless I am Chief Minister".
"My main idea is to bring BJP to power in Kerala. If BJP comes to power in Kerala, there will be three to four major areas we want to focus. One is infrastructure development in a big way and another is to bring industry to the state," he said.
"If BJP wants, I will contest (the elections)," he said during an interview over the phone, adding, "(and) to tell you very frankly, unless I am Chief Minister these priorities cannot be achieved."
The BJP has just one MLA in the 140-strong Kerala Assembly (up from zero in 2011), but is hopeful that Mr Sreedharan's charisma and appeal will rub off on the party's fortunes.
If the BJP's central leadership does approve the request, it will run contrary to the party's unwritten rule - that nobody over the age of 75 can be considered for a ministerial berth or role.
Mr Sreedharan will turn 89 in June.
There is, however, immediate precedence for exceptions to that rule; BS Yediyurappa was 76 when he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2019.
Earlier today Mr Sreedharan visited the Palarivattom flyover in Kochi - dressed in the uniform of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
The flyover - the reconstruction of which he has overseen well ahead of schedule - was mostly built during the former Congress-led UDF government, but was decommissioned by the current CPM-led government after cracks began to appear, and is at the centre of a corruption case.
Last year Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it would be rebuilt under the supervision of Mr Sreedharan and the DMRC.
"This will be the last day I will wear this uniform. I wore the DMRC's typical outdoor uniform for the first time in November 1997 in Delhi. Same practice I continued for the last 24 years," he said.
Mr Sreedharan's entry into electoral politics has been played down by the BJP's rivals in Kerala. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said he thought the 'metro man' would have a "minimal impact".
"When I joined politics at 53, I thought I had left it too late to make the kind of impact I felt I was capable of. What can I say about someone who is 88?" he asked.
Kerala will vote for a new 140-member Assembly on April 6 with results due May 2.
Mr Sreedharan first made headlines while restoring the historic Pamban bridge in Tamil Nadu, the link between the island Rameshwaram and the mainland, after it was damaged by a cyclone.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
With input from ANI, PTI
