The Congress on Thursday dissociated itself from Salwa Judum movement and claimed that its leader Mahendra Karma, killed by the Maoists on May 25, along with PCC president Nand Kumar Patel, was not its founder.
Congress spokesman Bhakta Charan Das said the Salwa Judam was never the Congress idea, it was launched by the Chhattisgarh BJP Government to establish its political influence in the region.
Rejecting media reports that Karma was its founder, Das said that since Karma was a prominent and famous tribal leader who was even known as Tiger of Bastar so people associated him with the movement. However, realising the negative impact of Salwa Judum, Karma had dissociated himself from it two to three years back.
Meanwhile, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is also planning to launch a campaign to lure tribals by holding meetings in tribal areas. Though details are still being worked out, sources said that Rahul will hold meetings with tribals from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and other States to establish the Congress ground among them.
Congress, which boycotted the all-party meeting held by the Chief Minister, also reiterated its demand for Raman Singh’s resignation for the
security lapse that led to the entire party leadership being wiped out.