Kawasi Lakhma is a former cabinet minister of Chattisgarh. He was also elected as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) five times consecutively from

Konta Konta is a Municipal Council and tehsil headquarters in Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, India. Konta is a model town situated near bank of sabri River and Konta Legislative Assembly constituency is one of the 90 Legislative Assembly , Konta M ...

. He was one of the survivors of

2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley On 25 May 2013, Naxalite insurgents of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) attacked a convoy of Indian National Congress leaders in the Jhiram Ghati, Darbha Valley in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India. The attack caused at least 2 ...

. His name was widely discussed as his own party men expressed doubt about his integrity and questioned his role in the Naxal attack, when other Congress leaders were shot dead in the attack, Kawasi Lakhma was spared and this has raised doubts.

Early life

Kawasi Lakhma is from Nagaras village, Sonakukanur post, Konta Tehsil,

Sukma Sukma is a town in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, India. Geography It is located at at an elevation of 210 m above MSL.http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/37/Sukma.html Map and weather of Sukma Location Sukma is connected to Jagdalpur by ...

district, Chhattisgarh and his place is a part of Bastar region.

Political life

Kawasi Lakhma, a tribal leader, was elected as MLA (elected in 2008) from

constituency of Chhattisgarh state and he was earlier elected in 2003 with a huge margin (securing 51.54% of votes polled). His constituency is a Naxal hit area and he is capable of interacting with Naxals in their native language. During 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha Valley, more than 30 people were killed and two other leaders travelling in the same car were taken away and killed by Naxals, sparing Lakhma unharmed and this has raised doubts about the role of Lakhma in the Massacre. As an opposition party MLA, he has raised concerns about the quality of developmental activities undertaken in the Naxal hit

district. He is cabinet minister of Commercial Tax (Excise), Commerce and Industry in government of Chhattisgarh.

After Naxal attack

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

has demanded a narco test on Kawasi Lakhma, so that the details of dialogue he exchanged with Naxals during the deadly attack and any possible conspiracy, can be found out. He won the election and became the minister of the state.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakhma, Kawasi Living people Indian National Congress politicians Chhattisgarh MLAs 2008–2013 Chhattisgarh MLAs 2003–2008 People from Dantewada district Year of birth missing (living people) Chhattisgarh MLAs 2018–2023 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1998–2003 Chhattisgarh MLAs 2023–2028