BJP tarnishing my image over Bastar Naxal attack: Kawasi Lakhma

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Congress vice president Kawasi Lakhma, who sustained injuries during the Naxal attack on Congress convoy on May 25 in Bastar, today said the BJP government in the state is dragging his name into the alleged "conspiracy" behind the brutal attack to tarnish his image.

"The state government is trying to tarnish my image by dragging my name into the matter. I am the lone Congress MLA from Bastar region comprising 12 assembly constituencies. The BJP has launched a fake campaign against me considering the upcoming assembly elections," he told reporters here.

BJP had demanded that a narco test be conducted on Lakhma as "it could reveal some important information related to the incident".

"Lakhma can give exact information about the conspiracy involved in the Naxal attack," state BJP spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar had said.

Lakhma, an MLA from Konta constituency in south Bastar, said, "I come from a poor tribal family and the BJP and RSS have always tried tarnish my image."

Maoists had ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on May 25. Twenty nine persons, including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma, ex-MLA Uday Mudaliyar and former union minister V C Shukla, were killed in the incident, which also left 35 others injured.