'Lessons learnt': 'Metroman' Sreedharan says goodbye to active politics

E Sreedharan, popularly known as the ‘metroman’ of India, quit active politics on Thursday (December 16), saying he learned a lesson from his loss in the Kerala Assembly elections held in April this year.

The 89-year-old bureaucrat joined the BJP just before the state assembly polls and fought the Palakkad seat, which he eventually lost to sitting MLA Shafi Parambil by a narrow margin of 3,859 votes. Sreedharan is said to have given a tough fight to Parambil, who had won the same seat in 2016 by a margin of more than 17,000 votes.

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Sreedharan announced his retirement in Malappuram, Kerala, on Thursday. “I was never a politician. Not being active in politics does not mean I am leaving politics behind,” he said.

“I am 90 now. Pushing further into politics is dangerous. I don’t have any dream in politics now. I don’t need politics to serve my land. I already do that through three trusts,” Sreedharan said.

Sreedharan is credited with changing the face of public transport in India with his leadership in building the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro while he served as the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) between 1995 and 2012.