Sharief gets flak from ministers

BANGALORE: Taking on Congress MP C K Jaffer Sharief, two ministers said on Thursday that the party would face the next elections under the leadership of Chief Minister S M Krishna.
Sharief, at a recent function organised by the State Minorities Development Corporation, had taken exception to Public Works Minister Dharam Singh’s statement on Krishna leading the party in the next polls and maintained that it was the Congress high command which decides who should lead the party.
Housing Minister C R Sageer Ahmed and Minorities and Wakfs Minister M L Ustad, who were both present when Sharief made his statement, told reporters here: "What Sharief said is his personal opinion. We feel what Singh said was correct. It is the opinion of the party and the public that Krishna should lead the party in the next poll."
Ahmed said Sharief was a senior minorities leader. "But the issue of the leadership is made on the basis of the party’s welfare and not community," he maintained.
The Congress tradition is to go to polls under the leadership of the existing CM. "We have gone to polls under M Veerappa Moily, now Madhya Pradesh is going under Digvijay Singh. The high command takes the final decision, but this has been the trend of their decision-making. After four years of exemplary rule, Krishna should lead," Ahmed stated.
Ustad contended that Krishna had done a lot for minorities welfare, be it the release of Rs 5.50 crore for shadi mahals or the allocation of Rs 16 crore for minorities welfare schemes, "which is more than what anyone else has done."