Ex- railway minister Sharief dies of cardiac arrest

■ A seven- time MP from Bengaluru North, Sharief was a staunch loyalist of Indira Gandhi ◗ From driving the car of his mentor Nijalingappa to steering India’s railway ministry, Sharief’s rise in politics is widely admired in political circles

and Sharief’s family friend N. A. Harris told PTI that the doctors had planned to implant a pacemaker in his heart Sunday but he died before the procedure could begin.

Born on November 3, 1933 at Challakere in Chitradurga, Sharief had a five- decades long illustrious political career that was launched under the tutelage of the then Congress stalwart and former Karnataka chief minister S. Nijalingappa.

From driving the car of his mentor Nijalingappa to steering India’s railway ministry, Sharief ’ s rise in politics and his unflinching loyalty to the party is widely admired in circles.

A seven- time MP from Bengaluru North constituency, Sharief, popularly called “Jaffer bhai” in the political circles of his times, was a staunch loyalist of Indira Gandhi, who stood with her political through thick and thin, and it also paid him rich political dividends.

Sharief sided with Indira Gandhi when the party split in the 1969, after she was expelled from the organisation for violating party discipline, a move that earned him a ticket to contest the 1971 mid- term polls.

He showed his complete loyalty again to Indira Gandhi against the then popular Karnataka chief minister Devraj Urs, who parted ways with her in 1978. Indira Gandhi was out of power then.

This earned a reward for Sharief who was inducted into the Cabinet as the minister of state for railways by her in 1980.

He had served as the railway minister in the P. V. Narasimha Rao government between 1991 and 1995. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi expressed their grief over the demise of Sharief and offered their condolences.

“Saddened by the demise of Shri C K Jaffer Sharief Ji. As a veteran parliamentarian, he enriched parliamentary proceedings. He was an effective voice for Karnataka’s aspirations in Delhi. Condolences to his family and supporters,” Modi tweeted.

Mr Gandhi tweeted,” It is a day of tragedy for the Congress party, with another senior, loved & respected member of our family in Karnataka, Shri Jaffer Sharief Ji, passing away today. My condolences to his family, and friends.”

C. K. JAFFER SHARIEF

( 1933- 2018)