Will he or will he not? There was confusion on Thursday over 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan's chief ministerial candidature for Kerala Assembly elections. A few hours after tweeting that Sreedharan would be Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial face for the southern state, Union Minister V Muraleedharan did a u-turn saying the party has not taken a final decision. The minister also deleted the tweet subsequently.

However, Sreedharan’s name was sent to the BJP’s central leadership for consideration. Kerala BJP president K Surendran rallied for Sreedharan's candidature and also highlighted his achievements. On Thursday, Surendran had said that they had requested the party to make Sreedharan the chief ministerial candidate for Kerala.

Sreedharan had joined the party last week, and two weeks ago, the 88-year-old had said that he would contest the polls. He had expressed his desire for the role of chief minister if the BJP comes to power in Kerala. "I am not interested in governorship. I won't be able to contribute to the state in such a 'constitutional' position with no powers at all," he had said.

Confident about his chances in Kerala polls

Sreedharan seemed confident about his chances of winning the polls. He said though he hasn’t chosen a constituency yet, he would want to contest from a place that's close to Ponnani in Malappuram, where he resides now. He also added that he will not go door-to-door seeking votes, but his "message would reach the voters".

He also visited the Palarivattom flyover on Thursday before handing it over to the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of the Kerala government for the inauguration. He was dressed in the uniform of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the last time, as curtains came down on his 24-year-long career with the DMRC. An ANI report quoting him as saying that this will be the last day that he would be wearing this uniform. "I wore the DMRC’s outdoor uniform for the first time in November 1997," he was quoted telling ANI.

On a query about his health, Sreedharan said that he will still be working like a technocrat, not a politician. On his goals for Kerala, he had said that if BJP came to power in the state, there are a few areas, such as infrastructure and industry, that he would like to focus on. He had also added then that unless he was the chief minister, he won’t be able to fulfil these objectives.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 6 and the results are expected to be declared on May 2.

The man behind India’s first Metro Rail project in Kolkata

Sreedharan was born in Karukaputhur in Palakkad district of Kerala on June 12, 1932. He was the in-charge of the implementation of India’s first-ever Metro rail in Kolkata in the early 1970s.

He studied at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Kakinada, which is one of the country’s leading technical universities. In the initial days of his career, he worked as a lecturer at the Government Polytechnic in Kozhikode. He joined the Indian Railway Service of Engineers in 1953.

He is also known for playing a pivotal role in setting up the Delhi Metro. In 1997, he was appointed managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). After achieving success in both Kolkata and Delhi Metro railways, he was made an advisor for the Kochi and Lucknow Metro.

That apart, he is also hailed for completing reconstruction work of the Palarivattom flyover in Kochi in five months, way ahead of its schedule.

In 2001, Sreedharan was given Padma Shri award, and a few years later, in 2008, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second-highest civilian honour.

(Edited by : Priyanka Rathi)