MALAPPURAM: Former Delhi Metro chief and BJP candidate in Palakkad constituency in the last Kerala assembly elections, E Sreedharan, on Thursday announced he is quitting active politics. At the same time, the ‘Metroman’ expressed willingness to cooperate with the LDF government’s SilverLine rail project if the Rs 64,000-crore project is planned properly.
Sreedharan, who joined the BJP in February, told reporters at Ponnani in Malappuram that he will continue to serve the nation in other ways. He will stay with the saffron party, but not through active politics, he said.
“I’m 90 years old now, in an advanced stage of life. When I say I’m quitting active politics, it doesn’t mean I’m leaving politics. When I lost the election, I felt sad. But I’m no longer sad because nothing can be done with one legislator,” Sreedharan said, indirectly referring to BJP’s failure to win even a single seat in the 140-member Kerala assembly.
He was defeated by the Congress’s Shafi Parambil in the election held in May by 3,859 votes. Further, he said he will not stay away from developmental and social work.
“I was never a politician. I contested the election as a technocrat. I’m not disappointed with the election defeat, and have learnt many things from that. I can serve the people in other ways. I have three trusts and I have work to do there,” Sreedharan pointed out.
He said the BJP should make some changes to its functioning in the state.
“I’ve given my recommendations to the party,” he said.
Regarding SilverLine, Sreedharan alleged that the officials were told not to involve him in the project.
“I will support the project if it is planned properly. It will take at least two years to complete a detailed plan for this project. The current project was planned in just 55 days. The government is showing unnecessary haste to implement it,” he said. Sreedharan termed the semihigh-speed railway line ill-conceived, badly planned and very badly handled.
Under the current plan, the SilverLine project will not do the state any good, he said. “The project should not be implemented with the current plan. Taking the semi-high-speed railway line through paddy fields and marshy land is not a good idea. Around 20,000 people need to be rehabilitated. No proper scientific study has been done to implement it. The project should be replanned,” he said.
He said his suggestions have not yet been taken for the SilverLine, which aims to connect Kerala’s northern and southern ends via a 530-km-long rail line passing through 11 districts.