The build-up to the Kerala Assembly polls, due to be held in April-May, got a shot of excitement on Thursday morning as the BJP announced that veteran railway pioneer E. Sreedharan would join the party.
Sreedharan, popularly known as the 'Metro Man', confirmed the news of his political debut. Sreedharan explained the reasons for opting to join politics to mediapersons. In an interview to Manorama News, Sreedharan said he decided to join the BJP after conferring with leaders of the saffron party in Kerala.
Sreedharan told Manorama News his decision to join the BJP was not taken all of a sudden and he said the BJP was "unlike other parties". Sreedharan told Manorama News, "I have lot of plans about Kerala and many of them have been already included in the BJP's manifesto. Nothing can be done alone. First I will take a party membership. The party will assign my tasks and no discussions have been held about them."
Sreedharan told The News Minute that he had "tried his best" to bring development to Kerala, but met political resistance. "I have been living in Kerala for 10 years, but I have noticed that the LDF and UDF are only interested in their political growth, not in the state's growth. In this scenario, it is only the BJP that can do something for the state," Sreedharan told The News Minute.
Sreedharan lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telling The News Minute, "He [Modi] is one of the best prime ministers India has seen; I have worked with him closely."
Sreedharan told NDTV, “I believe in the issues the party [BJP] is raising and I am against blind opposition by political parties nationally."
