Shahabuddin joins ‘secular’ Congress

Shahabuddin told reporters he had offered to join the Congress which was ‘‘the largest secular party to defeat the politics of deception’’. Shahabuddin, a three-time Member of Parliament, however, clarified that he was not joining the electoral fray and would confine himself to campaigning for the Congress through out the country.

The former IFS officer said that he was joining the Congress to ‘‘heal the wounds of the nation and to re-construct India on the Nehruvian model’’.