Margaret Alva may have expected support from former Railway minister C K Jaffer Sharief who had expressed a similar concern during the Karnataka elections. However, Sharief said on Tuesday that the manner in which Alva went about the entire issue was wrong.
Sharrief said that it was more of an emotional outburst by Alva and she should have sorted out the matter in a better manner. He said that she should have broached the subject with Sonia Gandhi and sorted out matters internally rather than come out in the open and make allegations against the party.
Alva in her outburst on November 8 had named Sharief while saying that his grandson too had been denied a ticket to fight the Karnataka elections. Sharief at the time of the Karnataka elections had threatened to resign from the Congress stating that he was upset with the manner in which the tickets were distributed. Sharief had sought for a ticket for his grand son, Rehman Sharief. However the party refused to issue a ticket following which Sharief had said that he was upset with the manner in which the tickets were being distributed. He then met with Sonia Gandhi and following some assurances the issue was resolved.
Sharief said that the Karnataka elections were over." I too was upset and there was an emotional outburst at that time, but I decided to sort out things amicably with the party high command. I feel even Alva should have done what I did and ensured that things did not go out of hand. I believe that differences within the party should be sorted out in a more amicable manner and such outbursts are bad for both the party as well as the person", Sharief said.