Sonia-bashing -- Partymen seek Sharief's expulsion

Sonia-bashing -- Partymen seek Sharief's expulsion
R K MATTOO

BANGALORE, FEB 27: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister C K Jaffer Sharief came under severe attack at the Pradesh Congress Committee office-bearers' meeting on Saturday for his recent remarks questioning the style of functioning of the AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

Terming his remarks as unwarranted and anti-party, many leaders shouted slogans, demanding Sharief's expulsion from the party. They also wanted Chief Minister and KPCC president S M Krishna -- who chaired the meeting -- to take up the matter with the party high command and the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and recommend his immediate expulsion from the party.

The party's Bangalore District Minority Cell, which met here on Saturday, too decided to sit on a dharna in front of the party office from Monday to protest Sharief's remarks. They too have demanded stern action against Sharief for his `unwarranted utterances' against the party president and the chief minister.

The office-bearers meeting was convened by Krishna to discuss arrangements for a Congress protest rally in New Delhi on March 6. The rally is against the BJP-led Government at the Centre on the issue of granting permission to Government employees to become the members of the RSS.

Departing from the main subject, leaders wanted to know the provocation behind Sharief's remarks. ``Sharief has always indulged in black-mailing politics whenever he has been out of power. Keeping in view his track record, he should be expelled from the party without giving him an opportunity for explanation,'' said a senior leader.

Attacking the leadership of Sonia at a time when the Congress party was fighting a vital issue of endorsing RSS as a political organisation by the Gujarat Government, had only weakened the stand of the Congress party, the leaders felt. ``It does not befit a senior leader to indulge in such loose talk about the party high-command and therefore warrants serious action,'' they added.

Many senior leaders said that by attacking his own party leadership, Sharief was trying to be in the good books of the BJP Government and win BJP leaders' confidence for his selfish motives. They, in fact, linked his sudden outburst against Sonia to a case filed by the CBI against him for possessing assets disproportionate to his known source of income. The hearing of the case resumed in a special CBI designated court in Bangalore on February 25 after the Supreme Court dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by him to quash the proceedings in the lower court.

Sharief staying away from the Parliament session was a deliberate move to keep himself away from any discussion on the RSS issue. ``Right from the days of Devraj Urs, Gundu Rao, Veerendra Patil, S Bangarappa and Veerappa Moily, he has been behaving in the same manner. When he was dropped from Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet, Sharief showed utter disregard to Rajiv Gandhi's leadership. It is high time he was dismissed from the party'', they demanded.

Many pointed out that Sharief was given a ticket to fight the Lok Sabha elections despite a party resolution barring tainted politicians from contesting elections. ``Instead of being grateful to the leadership, he has chosen to go against the President'', they said.