'Metro Man' E Sreedharan, 88-year-old, is set to join the BJP months ahead of polls in Kerala. He will formally join the party during its Vijay Yatra that will be led by Kerala BJP chief K Surendran from February 21.
"I would like to inform that highly influential people from various quarters have informed us that they would like to join the party. E Sreedharan, who has been respected worldwide and is a pride of our country has informed us that he would like to join the party. He will join the party officially during the 'Vijay yathra'," K Surendran said while addressing a press conference in Kasaragod.
The rath yatra will be launched from Kasaragod and culminate in Thiruvananthapuram around the first week of March. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will flag off the yatra.
Speaking to a media organisation, Sreedharan said that "Narendra Modi is the most promising prime minister and he has worked with him closely, which inspired him to join the party". He said it is for the party to decide whether he will contest the upcoming polls.
He also criticized other political parties for what he called "blind opposition" and showing India in a bad light. "Political parties with vested interests are projecting India in a very bad light nationally and opposing just for the sake of opposing. Parties like the Congress are creating a bad image for India", he said. Mr Sreedharan said he was open to contesting the election if the party wanted.
The BJP has one MLA in the 140-member Kerala assembly and is considered a bit player compared to the ruling Left-led alliance and the opposition Congress-led coalition.
Mr Sreedharan retired as chief of the Delhi Metro in 2011. The engineer is also involved in other metro projects in the country such as in Jaipur, Lucknow and Kochi.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
Mr Sreedharan came in the spotlight when he worked on restoring the historic Pamban bridge in Tamil Nadu, the link between the island Rameshwaram and the mainland, after it was damaged by a cyclone.