Bengaluru: Veteran Congress leader and former Union Railway Minister Challakere Kareem Jaffer Sharief (85) passed away today at a private hospital in Bengaluru. He was hospitalised after he collapsed while getting into his car for Friday namaz on Nov.23.

Born on Nov.3, 1933 in Chitradurga, Sharief represented Bengaluru North Constituency from 1977 to 1996. He joined the P.V. Narasimha Rao Ministry in 1991 as the Minister for Railways. Sharief was too stressed out of late as he was busy preparing for the release of the Urdu translation of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s ‘India Wins Freedom.’ The book release was scheduled to be held at Palace Grounds on Nov.28.