‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan formally joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala’s Malappuram on Thursday, ahead of the assembly elections in the state due in May. He joined the party in presence of Union Minister RK Singh. The 88-year-old‘s decision has given a boost BJP’s hopes to make huge electoral inroads in the state which is being ruled by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alternately for several years. 

“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. One is infrastructure development in a big way and another is to bring industry to the state,” he said last week. 

Sreedharan also said that he is “certainly” ready to be the chief minister of the state if the party decides to choose him for the same after winning the elections. 

“If they (BJP) want, certainly. To tell you very frankly, unless I am the chief minister these (priorities) cannot be achieved,” he said.