No tears for Alva

While many Congress members sympathised with former Union Minister C K Jaffer Sharief over a 8220;raw deal8221; when his grandson was denied a ticket for the Karnataka Assembly elections, there were few who shed tears for powerful general secretary Margaret Alva whose son Nivedit was also denied a nomination. Alva, in charge of half a dozen states, including Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, is perceived to be close to 10 Janpath. Her detractors in the party8212;quite sizeable in number8212;term the denial of ticket to her son as poetic justice for her 8220;dictatorial8221; style of functioning. Only a few weeks ago there was a host of Congress leaders from Meghalaya camping in Delhi to protest at not getting tickets. Former chief minister J D Rymbai, for instance, joined the United Democratic Party after the Congress did not select him to fight the polls. Even in Nagaland, Alva is believed to have been behind the Centre8217;s dismissal of the Neiphiu Rio government last January, despite the NCP8217;s protests. In recent days, Alva has also been gunning for Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.