Metro Man E Sreedharan quits active politics

Metro man E Sreedharan, who joined the saffron brigade before of the polls in February, announced his retirement from active politics on Thursday, ten months after the BJP’s thrashing in Kerala Assembly elections. The seasoned bureaucrat, on the other hand, stated that he will continue to serve the country in various capacities, but not through active politics. 

E Sreedharan, speaking to the media in his hometown of Mallapuram, cited his age as the reason for his retirement from active politics, claiming that nothing can be accomplished in the Assembly with just one legislator. 

“Many people do not know, I am 90 years old now and I am in the advanced stage as far as my age is considered. When I say I am quitting active politics, it doesn’t mean I am leaving politics. When I lost the polls, I felt sad, but now I am not sad because with one legislator nothing can be done”, IANS quoted Sreedharan. 

He went on to claim that the BJP’s state unit used to have a vote share of 16 to 17%, but that it now has a lower vote share. “I was never a politician as I am a bureaucrat and even though I am not going to be active in politics, I can always serve the people in other ways. I have three Trusts and I have work in that to be done,” added Sreedharan.

He joined the BJP in February, just before the Kerala Assembly elections. Sreedharan, who fought from the Palakkad Assembly constituency, was hailed by a segment of the Kerala BJP as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate. In the April 6 Assembly elections, he was defeated by youthful Congress legislator Shafi Parambil by 3,859 votes. 

Metro Man E Sreedharan had previously backed the three agricultural regulations and stated that it has become fashionable in India to “oppose whatever the Modi government does” prior to the elections. Farmers, according to Sreedharan, either don’t comprehend or don’t want to grasp the agricultural acts for “political reasons”.

“They have to educate the farmers and tell them that it is in their own interest. If this is not done, what is going to happen to them? They (protesting farmers) don’t realise what will happen five years down the line,” he had said.

Sreedharan, often known as the Metro Man, is recognized for transforming public transportation in India through his leadership in the construction of the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro while serving as the managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). He was also given the Padma Shri by the Indian government in 2001, as well as the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.