JOIN USJD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday claimed that senior Congress leader C K Jaffer Sharief had requested him to change his party nominee Ismail Sharief, also a minority candidate, for the Hebbal Assembly constituency byelection.
Speaking to the media after Ismail filed his nominations on Wednesday, Gowda said Jaffer Sharief had called him on Tuesday night and requested him to change the candidate lest he dented his grandson Rahaman Sharief’s prospects.
“I refused it right away. There is no question of changing the candidate, especially a minority candidate. I have no intentions of backstabbing him,” he added.
Youth Congress president Rizwan Arshad, too, hit back at Jaffer Sharief against whom he had spoken recently.
Arshad said though he was not as experienced as Sharief, the latter too was once young and inexperienced. “Unlike him, I will not betray the party or the candidate. Sharief had worked towards my defeat when I had contested in the election. But I am not going to do the same,” he added.