Open to chief ministership if BJP comes to power: E Sreedharan

A day after expressing his wish to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections as a BJP candidate, Metroman E Sreedharan has declared that he would be open to chief ministership if the party comes to power in the state.

"My main idea is to bring BJP to power in Kerala. If BJP comes to power in Kerala, there will be three to four major areas we want to focus on. One is infrastructure development in a big way, and another is to bring industry to the state," he said.

He also added that he is "not interested in governorship" as he "won't be able to contribute" to the state in a "constitutional position with no powers at all".

Sreedharan, known for his big infrastructure projects, including the Delhi Metro, is all set to join the BJP on February 25th in the Vijayayatra, a state-wide tour held by BJP State President K Surendran. He also added that his focuses would be on raising the state from debt trap and infrastructural development if voted to power.

On why he chose to join the right-wing political party, Sreedharan said, "When you analyse the Kerala scenario, I see only BJP can deliver results for the state. CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-led UDF are working for furthering their interests. Only BJP is working for the betterment of the country as well as the state," he said. He also added that the two fronts are having "tussles with central government all the time", which is costing the state development, which will be resolved if BJP comes to power.

Sreedharan, who is currently working on a project to rebuild a bridge in the state, is a retired officer of the Indian Engineering Service and advisor to several metro projects in India. He is a member of the United Nations' High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport and has received several national and international honours for his work in public transportation, including the Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008.