New Delhi, April 27: Senior leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief withdrew his resignation from the Congress today, much to the relief of the party ahead of next month’s Karnataka polls.

Sharief met party chief Sonia Gandhi after which he announced he would remain in the Congress to “keep the party intact” and “defeat communalism”. The veteran leader had quit after his grandson was denied a ticket in the Assembly elections.

Congress sources said accommodating his grandson was out of the question because the nomination process for the first two phases was over. But it was “likely” that Sharief had been promised “something” if the Congress came to power in Karnataka.

Sharief belongs to Bangalore and wanted a seat for his grandson from the city.