Congress MP Shashi Shashi Tharoor. | Photo Credit: PTI He said Mr. Sreedharan’s entry came as a surprise to him because the technocrat had a long innings executing engineering projects, not making or implementing policies in a fractious democracy. With E Sreedharan throwing his hat in the political ring by deciding to join the BJP, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the technocrat is likely to have a “minimal” impact on the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls, and asserted that the BJP is not a serious contender except in a few seats in the state. Mr. Tharoor also said it will be very difficult for the BJP to improve upon its performance of winning one seat in the 2016 Assembly polls and the high point of Mr. Sreedharan’s impact on Kerala elections will turn out to be the announcement of joining the BJP itself.