‘C K Jaffer Sharief’s decision made in Delhi’

 

Gulbarga: Swinging between defending sulking senior leader, C K Jaffer Sharief and reprimanding him, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief,  Dr G Parameshwar walked the tightrope here on Thursday when asked about the former Union minister’s growing fondness for the JDS after being denied the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha ticket.

 

Dr Parameshwar, who  accompanied Union minister Mallikarjun Kharge while he filed his nomination papers for  Gulbarga , at first tried to find excuses for Mr Sharief’s behaviour saying it was the  “spontaneous reaction of a person who has been like the foundation of the party for over 50 years and who has been given many responsibilities by it.”

 

But when asked specifically about his overtures to the JD(S), he admitted, “it was unbecoming of a leader of  his stature who has been with the party for  so long to  talk of going to a party that the Congress has opposed for a  long time.” Taking note of Mr Sharief’s anti-communal stance, the KPCC chief wondered how he could join hands with the  JD(S) which had time and again struck an alliance with the BJP.

 

Asked what impact the veteran Congress leader’s rebellion would have on the party's chances these elections, Dr Parameshwar said he was not foolish enough to say that Mr Sharief had no clout with the minority voters. "But we’ll try to appeal to their leaders and explain to them under what circumstances the party decided to replace him with a younger candidate.” Denying that  Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was responsible for  the former Union minister being denied a ticket , he claimed, “Neither Mr Siddaramaiah nor any  individual was responsible. The KPCC  recommended  Mr Sharief, but it was the high command which decided to field Mr Rizwan Arshad in his place.” 

 

Maintaining that he continued to remain hopeful the veteran leader would not contest from Mysore on a JD(S) ticket despite media reports which suggested this, he added,  “ I hope Mr Sharief will not take such a step on his return from Mecca.” 

 

On former minister Kumar Bangarappa’s threat to contest as a rebel in Shimoga, he said the party would not be cowed down by such moves. “The party has the ability to deal with these kinds of threats,” he asserted, justifying its decision to field a leader who had worked for it for over 36 years from the constituency.