BJP declares Metroman Sreedharan as CM candidate

The Kerala unit of the BJP has declared Metroman E Sreedharan as the party’s candidate for Chief Minister which party President K Surendran described as a consensus decision taken to ‘liberate the State from a developmental quagmire and lead its way back to recovery.’

Speaking at a reception given to his Vijaya Yatra at Tiruvalla in Central Kerala, Surendran said that the Kochi Metro and the restored Palarivattom elevated road bridge in Kochi are two shining and recent examples of Sreedharan’s single-minded focus on time-bound and disciplined developmental work in the state.

Could change face of Kerala

If the party is given a term and Sreedharan becomes Chief Minister it would change the face of the state, Surendran said. He took potshots at both the ruling LDF and the Opposition Congress-led UDF for letting down the Christian community just as they had failed the larger Hindu cause in the Sabarimala issue.

Sreedharan’s projection as Chief Ministerial face follows his elevation on the previous day into the 16-member state election committee concluded ‘with the permission of the party national president JP Nadda,’ a party statement had said on Wednesday. A notable omission was Sobha Surendran, State Vice-President.

State election committee

Apart from Sreedharan, the committee includes State President Surendran; Union Minister V Muraleedharan; National Vice-President AP Abdullakutty; O Rajagopal MLA; former presidents Kummanam Rajasekharan, CK Padmanabhan and PK Krishnadas; and State General Secretary MT Ramesh.

Sreedharan had joined the BJP last month in Malappuram during the early phase of the Vijaya Yatra.

He announced his decision on February 18 and had said that if the party comes to power in Kerala, he is ready to become the Chief Minister. But the party had not asked him anything specific on this.

Sreedharan-speak on governance

“But if BJP asks me, I am willing to take up the post and will show how a state can be run efficiently like we are running DMRC,” Sreedharan had said. His joining the party itself seems to have given it a new facelift in the state, considered one of the few states that the party has not able to call ‘its own.’

The party hopes this would boost its vote share especially by winning the support of the middle class. Agency reports quoted senior leader B Radhakrishna Menon as saying that Sreedharan’s decision to work with the party gives new hope and expectation for the state’s development.