Will form new political outfit in MP: Aslam Sher Khan

Bhopal, Feb 22: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Aslam Sher Khan on Monday said he will form a new political outfit 'MP New Congress Forum' in the state ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in 2018.

He also claimed senior Congress leader and MP Kamal Nath will be projected as his party's chief ministerial candidate. However, sources close to Kamal Nath said the former Minister hasn't authorised anyone to speak on his behalf.

"After waiting for long for the Congress top leadership to take corrective measures in the state, and when nothing happened, we (Khan and his supporters) have decided to form an 'MP New Congress Forum' in Madhya Pradesh," Khan said here.

[Aslam Sher Khan blames senior Congress leaders for defeat in MP polls]

"We will promote (Kamal) Nath as the Chief Ministerial candidate (of the new outfit)," he said. The forum would contest 115 of the total 230 seats in the state.

We will hold the forum's convention in March to chalk out its further plans, the former Olympian said. He also said if in due course Congress projects him (Kamal Nath) as the chief ministerial candidate, then also his proposed outfit will fully support him.

"At present Congress is not in a position to contest all seats in MP on its own. Maihar by-poll is an example It has to import a candidate from BSP and the end result is known to everyone. This is the situation in almost half of the seats in the state as it has no genuine candidates," Khan claimed.

The Congress's Manish Patel had lost the recent Maihar by-poll to BJP's Narayan Tripathi.

"Despite the fact that Maihar was its bastion, the party lost to BJP's Narayan Tripathi, who had won the same seat from Congress in 2013, even in the BJP wave," he said.

"Now, the situation is not the same for Congress like it was before. It has to go with other groups to consolidate its position and corner the growing BJP, especially in MP," he added.

PTI