E Sreedharan | Kerala Polls 2021 BJP still undecided about projecting 'metro man' E Sreedharan as CM candidate in Kerala polls
Thiruvananthapuram/IBNS: The Kerala BJP has taken a U-turn hours after tweeting that India's 'metro man' E Sreedharan, who joined the party last week, will be its chief ministerial candidate in the assembly elections next month, according to media reports.
Union Minister V Muraleedharan told news agency ANI that no decision has been taken in this regard till now.
"There were some statements E Sreedharan will be the chief ministerial candidate in Kerala. I heard media reports that the party has announced him as the Chief Minister candidate," Mr Muraleedharan told news agency ANI.
"After I talked to the party president, he said he hasn't made any statement and was referring to some issue in Kerala. So it should not be considered an announcement. I'm clarifying it," he added.
Earlier in a tweet, which was was later deleted, Muraleedharan had written, "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."
An NDTV report said E Sreedharan's name has been forwarded to central leadership as face of BJP's election campaign after Kerala state unit president K Surendran threw his weight behind the legendary railway engineer.
"'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," Surendran said Thursday afternoon, the report stated.
At a rally in Kasargod, Surendran had said the 'metro man' was "qualified to adorn any post... including Chief Minister".
On Thursday last, Sreedharan visited Palarivattom flyover in Kochi - adorning the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) uniform for the last time in his engineering career.
He told ANI that he was expecting a big win in the elections and he had made only one demand that he wanted to fight from a constituency not far from Ponnani where he now lives.
Infrastructure development and industry would be the top priorities if BJP came to power in Kerala, Sreedharan said.
"If BJP wants, I will contest (the elections)... (and) to tell you very frankly, unless I am Chief Minister these priorities cannot be achieved," he had said, according to the NDTV report.
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