Union Minister V. Muraleedharan on Thursday had to backtrack from his comments after he claimed that the BJP has announced ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan as its chief ministerial candidate for the Kerala elections.
He clarified that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not yet decided to nominate Sreedharan, popularly known as ‘Metroman’, as the Chief Minister candidate of the party for the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls.
Speaking to ANI, Muraleedharan said: “There were some statements that E Sreedharan will be CM candidate in Kerala. I heard media reports that the party has announced him as the CM candidate. “After I talked to the party president he said that he hasn’t made any statement and he was only referring to some issue in Kerala, So it should not be considered as an announcement, I am clarifying it,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Muraleedharan told ANI that Sreedharan would become the CM candidate for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections. “BJP will fight Kerala polls with E Sreedharan Ji as its chief ministerial candidate. We will defeat both CPIM and Congress to provide a corruption-free, development-oriented governance for the people of Kerala,” he tweeted.
“Kerala BJP under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji will strive to take care of the needs of the people of Kerala. The New Kerala under E. Sreedharan Ji will pave the way for an efficient & effective Govt in the state.” he added.
Prior to that, Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran had said that the face of the state can be changed if Sreedharan is made the CM of the state. “If ‘Metroman’ becomes the chief minister, the face of Kerala can be changed,” Surendran told ANI.
Sreedharan formally joined BJP in Malappuram on 25 February in presence of Union Minister R.K. Singh. He joined the party during BJP’s ongoing Vijaya Yatra led by Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran.
On 18 February, Sreedharan announced that he will join the BJP. “If BJP comes to power in Kerala, I am ready to become the chief minister. The party has not asked me till now as it is too premature. But if BJP asks me, I am willing to take up the post and show how a state can be run efficiently like we are running DMRC,” Sreedharan had told ANI earlier.
The election for the 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on 6 April.
With ANI inputs