Metroman E Sreedharan
Metroman E Sreedharan, the technocrat who implemented several flagship projects across India including the Metro Rail, is confident of turning around the Bharatiya Janata Party's fortune in Kerala, predicting that "either the party will have a full majority or enough numbers of seats to evolve as a kingmaker in the state".
While interacting with ANI during his campaign trail for Kerala Assembly polls, Sreedharan expressed confidence that he is going to win the Palakkad Assembly constituency.
"I think the BJP has very good prospects of winning seats in Kerala. It may be an absolute majority or even it could have an accessible number by which they will be the kingmaker," Sreedharan told ANI.
Sreedharan, who was part of Home Minister Amit Shah's roadshow in Malampuzha in Palakkad, called the event spectacular, adding that thousands of enthusiastic people turned up for it.
"I think this will have a tremendous effect on the morale of people who were let off by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) governments. People will vote for the BJP," he said.
Often called the 'Metroman', Sreedharan underscored that working as a technocrat is different from working as a politician and added that if he gets elected he will be very useful for the state.
He further said that he will work to bring industries to Kerala. "There are hardly any industries in Kerala today. Only industries can bring wealth to the state. Job creation is necessary as Kerala has the most unemployed youths. I will try to raise the standard of the education system. I will work to bring a transparent, efficient and corruption-free government," Sreedharan said responding to question about his role if National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is voted to power.
Cornering the Left front for attacking him on washing his feet by voters, he alleged that Left parties do not possess any knowledge about Indian tradition.
"Washing the feet of elders is a tradition and the Left party did not know about it. This is a way of showing respect to our elders and is done by everyone. My children also do it. This is a practice throughout India, not just in Kerala. By criticising this, the Left has reflected that they have no regard for our tradition," he added.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6, the Election Commission had announced.
For Assembly poll 2021, the number of polling booths in Kerala has been extended from 21,498 to 40,771. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
The tenure of the 14th Kerala legislative assembly will come to an end on June 1, 2021. A total of 2,67,88,268 electors will elect the candidates in Kerala for the 15th legislative assembly.
