Chhattisgarh Tribal Leader Arvind Netam Quits Congress

Raipur: Veteran tribal leader and former Union minister Arvind Netam on Thursday resigned from Congress alleging his marginalisation in the party.

The Congress however called him a ‘spent force’ and a party hopper.

In a letter to the AICC leadership, Mr Netam, a tribal leader from Bastar in Chhattisgarh, said that he returned to Congress five years back with an objective to strengthen the party by utilising his experience.

The septuagenarian leader alleged that he was disappointed not to get cooperation from the leadership.

The tribal leader is a founder member of Sarva Adivasi Samaj, a tribal social body of Bastar, and is planning to turn the organisation into a political party to enter into the fray in the upcoming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh.

Mr Netam had quit Congress and joined BJP a decade ago. He however returned to the grand old party five years ago.

Congress has however said that Mr Netam’s resignation would hardly have any impact on the party.

“Mr Netam is a spent force. He was given the ticket by Congress to contest Lok Sabha elections earlier despite losing the polls. The party had earlier even given the ticket to his wife to contest from his Lok Sabha constituency in Bastar when he got embroiled in hawala charges”, Congress spokesman Sushil Anand Shukla told this newspaper.

Mr Shukla said that even Mr Netam’s daughter was given a ticket from his constituency earlier. But, he could not ensure his daughter’s victory in his constituency.

Mr Netam changes parties very often, Mr Shukla said.