E Sreedharan quits active politics less than a year after joining BJP

MALAPPURAM: 'Metroman' E Sreedharan seems to have learned his lesson the hard way. After unsuccessfully contesting the state assembly election as a BJP candidate from Palakkad constituency in April this year, Sreedharan on Thursday called it quits.

Sreedharan was addressing the Media at Ponnani in Malappuram. However, he clarified that his statement did not mean he completely quit politics. He would continue to serve the nation in other ways, but not through active politics.

In the recent assembly election, Congress's Shafi Parambil defeated E Sreedharan for 3859 votes. "I am 90 years old now. I am in the advanced stage as far as my age is considered. When I say I am quitting active politics, it doesn't mean I am leaving politics. When I lost the election, I felt sad. But, now I am not sad because nothing can be done with one legislator," Sreedharan said.

Sreedharan joined the BJP last February ahead of the Assembly polls in Kerala. "I was never a politician as I am a bureaucrat. I can always serve the people in other ways. I have three Trusts and I have work in that to be done," added Sreedharan.

Silverline

Sreedharan said the Silverline project would not serve any good to the state if it is not implemented with proper planning. "There are serious mistakes in the planning of the project.  It might be due to the ignorance of the people associated with it. They even did not conduct an environmental study for the project. The project should be re-planned," he said.

He also announced that he would cooperate with the governments if they ask his assistance for the project. "A detailed study should be conducted to make the Silverline project successful. The current project was planned in 55 days. Minimum two years will be needed to complete a detailed project report for the Silver line," he said.