‘Metroman’ Sreedharan set to join BJP, may contest poll

He says his approach to politics in Kerala will be different.

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, Principal Adviser to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and popularly known as ‘Metroman’, is all set to join the BJP.

Kerala State BJP president K. Surendran said in Kozhikode on Thursday that Mr. Sreedharan would officially join the party during the inauguration of the State-wide Vijaya Yatra from Kasaragod on February 21. The party had already requested him to contest the polls, Mr. Surendran added.

Mr. Sreedharan, 88, said his approach to politics would be different and that he was open to contesting the coming Assembly election if the party wanted.

“This has been communicated to the party’s State leadership. Formalities like taking the membership remain,” he told The Hindu over phone from his hometown Ponnani.

“Since I have settled down in Kerala, I have seen different governments and the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front have not been able to do anything substantial for the people over the years. Projects are delayed and corruption is rampant. Only parties leading the coalition fronts had benefited. There is no rapport with the Union government and the State is the ultimate loser and the political parties the gainer. A BJP government can alter this scenario,” he said.

Mr. Sreedharan admitted that he was a “sympathiser” of the BJP since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister.

(With inputs from Biju Govind in Kozhikode)