Days after “Metroman” E Sreedharan, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party stated that he was open to becoming the party's chief ministerial face for the upcoming Assembly polls, Union Minister V Muraleedharan tweeted that he would indeed by the BJP's chief ministerial face.
"Kerala BJP will fight Kerala polls with E Sreedharanji as its chief ministerial candidate. We will defeat both CPM and Congress to provide a corruption-free, development-oriented Governance for the people of Kerala. #VijayaYatra," Muraleedharan tweeted.
"BJP, under the able leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modiji will strive to take care of the needs of the people of Kerala. The new Kerala under E Sreedharanji will pave the way for an efficient & effective Govt in the state," he added.
.@BJP4Keralam will fight #Keralapolls with E Sreedharan Ji as its Chief Ministerial Candidate.
— V Muraleedharan (@VMBJP) March 4, 2021
We will defeat both @CPIMKerala & @INCKerala to provide a corruption-free, development-oriented Governance for the people of Kerala.
#VijayaYatra @JoshiPralhad @surendranbjp pic.twitter.com/lIlMgiXfS9
Muraleedharan's tweet came after BJP’s state President K Surendran on Thursday stated that they wanted E Sreedharan to be the CM face to showcase that the party can deliver a non-corrupt and development oriented government in the state.
Hailing E Sreedharan for the completion of the Palarivattom flyover’s reconstruction, Surendran stated this was an example of why they requested the national leadership of the party to project Sreedharan as the CM face.
'Metroman’ E Sreedharan completed reconstruction of the Palarivattom flyover within five months. This is the development model of NDA. We want a non-corrupt development model for Kerala, that is why we want him to be the CM candidate,” K Surendran said during ‘Vijaya Yatra’ at Thiruvalla. The BJP won just one seat out of 140 in 2016 and is hoping to better its tally this time. However, the party is aiming to projet a confident image by speaking about a CM probable.
The Palarivattom flyover in Kochi built during the Oommen Chandy led UDF regime, at a cost of Rs 48 crore, was thrown open to the public in 2016. But in less than three years, the flyover had to be shut in May 2019, after major structural damages were found. The reconstruction of the flyover was carried out by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) Ltd under the supervision of E Sreedharan, Principal Advisor of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Visiting the Palarivattom flyover, E Sreedharan on Thursday hailed the ULCCS, which is associated with the CPI(M), for the successful completion of the reconstruction works.
“When the state government handed over the reconstruction of the flyover to DMRC, they had given us nine months time. But when we gave the contract to ULCCS, we gave them eight months only. However, they have completed the works in five months, that too in good quality. I specially thank the ULCCS for completing the work fast,” E Sreedharan told the media.
Watch video: E Sreedharan's statement
Meanwhile, K Surendran stated that E Sreedharan hailed ULCCS as he was not aware about the “corruption” of the cooperative body linked with CPI(M). K Surendran has in the past also raised allegations against ULCCS.
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