Cong secular image affected: Khan

Indore, Jan 8 (UNI) Congress leader and former Union minister Aslam Sher Khan feels that the party's secular image has been affected due to the declining influence of leaders who support secularism.

''That is why even Congress supporters are distancing themselves from the party. Seculariam constituted the Congress' identity. The party lost Madhya Pradesh's December 2003 assembly poll as a result of the then chief minister Digvijay Singh's tenure. The workers' woes went unheard,'' the former Olympian told reporters here yesterday.

Pointing out that conventions were being held at division-level for establishing a dialogue with workers, Khan added that such events already took place here and at Bhopal. A state-level convention would be organised at the state capital.

''Reservation on religious basis is against the spirit of the Constitution. Muslims' problems cannot be solved through reservation. Comprehensive methods are imperative for their uplift,'' he felt.

On different factions projecting Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia and MLA Ajay Singh as claimants for the chief minister's post, Khan said that once the Bharatiya Janata Party was vanquished he saw nothing wrong in any Congress leader emerging for the coveted post.

UNI