Metro Man Sreedharan praises 'exuberant' Tejasvi Surya after BJP roadshow in Palakkad

BJP’s high-profile candidate in Palakkad constituency E. Sreedharan on Saturday praised the party's youth leader Tejasvi Surya as the duo campaigned across Thrippunithura, Kottayam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts ahead of Kerala Assembly polls. 

"The youth and exuberance of Surya added to the flavour of the roadshow. His youthful energy has reinvigorated me," the metro man said in a tweet. 

Launching his campaign earlier this week, Sreedharan, who is the saffron party's Kerala CM face,  said BJP is fighting the polls on the plank of development. The octogenarian will be fighting against sitting MLA Shafi Parambil of the Congress and CPI(M)'s C P Pramod in the election. 

Voters wash Sreesharan's feet

The metro man recently came under attack from the Left parties after images of voters washing and touching his feet during his campaign went viral on social media. Sreedharan however defended the act by saying that the supporters were expressing their respect towards him in the traditional Indian manner. 

CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam criticised the technocrat, saying it spoke volumes about the direction in which the BJP was taking the country. The images circulated on social media showed the voters receiving Sreedharan washing and touching his feet. 

Slamming his critics, the 88-year-old candidate said, "It is our Indian tradition. What is wrong with it? They were expressing their respect. They were not worshipping (me)."

In Kerala, the BJP which is an alliance with 4 parties has decided to contest in 115 seats alone out of which it has released the names of 112 candidates. Elections for the 140-seat state Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2.