Beginning his campaign from Hanuman Temple at Palakkad fort in Kerala on Tuesday, technocrat-turned politician E Sreedharan, popularly known as ‘Metro Man’, looks quite confident of making it to the Kerala Assembly.
While his opponents used to ridicule him over entering politics at the age of 88, Sreedharan easily moves around from point to point seeking votes, mainly highlighting development agenda rather than mudslinging politics.
But the voters of Palakkad in central Kerala are still skeptical whether Sreedharan will be able to tide over the huge popularity that young Congress leader and two time sitting MLA Shafi Parambil enjoys in the constituency.
"Sreedharan could be a very popular person at the national level. But for the people of Palakkad, Shafi is much popular and he made considerable contributions like development of roads and the medical college. So we have to see if Sreedharan could make it,” said Antony, a taxi driver in Palakkad town.
Shafi won with a majority of 7,400 votes in 2011 and 2016 his majority increased to 17,400. However, BJP’s Shobha Surendran came second in 2016, which raises Sreedharan’s hopes. The BJP is considering Palakkad among the few constituencies where the party’s winnability factors are very high.
BJP is mainly highlighting the expertise of Sreedharan and his clean image by pointing out projects like Delhi Metro to Kochi metro and the swift reconstruction of Palarivattom flyover in Kochi.
Vivekraj Nair, a Palakkad native working in Mumbai, came down to extend support to Sreedharan. He said that he had not seen much development in Palakkad over the years of Congress-led UDF and CPM-led LDF rule and hence was having high expectations as the 'Metro Man' was seeking mandate.
Sreedharan told DH that the response he was receiving from the people was really encouraging and exciting, and he was not at all moved by the criticism by his political opponents. “I just ignore those criticisms and I don't find any problem in contesting against a youngster,” he said.
At his campaign speeches, Sreedharan is also making it a point to remind the party workers and supporters that the party not only required BJP votes, but the votes from others also. He also reiterates that he is a Palakkad native.
Sreedharan’s national level popularity seems to have not created any dent in the confidence level of Shafi Parambil. “Sreedharan is a good technocrat and we all respect him. But this is a different game as Sreedharan is now a representative of BJP. I feel that the people of Palakkad are still have high trust in me as I stood by them and also initiated many development and welfare measures,” said the young MLA.
Meanwhile, the CPM camps are also having hopes that a split in the Congress votes in favour of Sreedharan as well as factionalism in Congress may help party’s candidate C P Pramod. The minority communities, especially the Muslim outfits, may prefer to support Shafi Parambil to ensure BJP’s defeat even as they are not major vote bank in Palakkad.