‘Whistleblower’ to ‘suspect’, ex-Chhattisgarh CPI stalwart under anti-graft agency’s scanner: Who is Manish Kunjam

Alleging that the ACB was “unleashed” on him as he had “exposed” the BJP government, Kunjam told The Indian Express that BJP leaders were allegedly involved in the case. “I think I am being targeted as I have been raising my voice against mining. They (ACB officials) got nothing from my house, and took two of my phones and my personal diary. Also, they did not give me the hash value of my phones, which is a violation of the Supreme Court norms. I am the sole complainant in the case. Even after a Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) was suspended, we protested again demanding that criminal action be initiated against the officer and tendu leaf collectors be given their dues,” Kunjam said.

A two-time MLA, Kunjam, 61, is known as a prominent tribal leader in the Bastar region.

Based on his January complaint, where he alleged bonuses for 2021 and 2022 were not paid to the tendu leaf collectors, a DFO was suspended.

Belonging to a poor family in Ramaram village in Sukma, Kunjam was brought up by a single mother. He began his political career with the Students Federation of India (SFI) – the CPI(M)’s student wing – in 1984. For the SFI, he organised several protests over various issues including those pertaining to tendu leaves and was also jailed in 1987.

An MA and LLB, Kunjam won his first Assembly election as a CPI candidate in 1990 from the Konta seat in Sukma district in the then undivided Madhya Pradesh. He won the seat again in the 1993 polls on the CPI’s ticket.

In 1998, Kunjam was defeated by Kawasi Lakhma, a former Congress minister who is currently in jail in connection with the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam, losing to him four times since (2003, 2013, 2018 and 2023).

In 2012, Kunjam accompanied mediators till Tadmetla in Sukma after the government secured the release of then Sukma Collector, Alex Paul Menon, who was abducted by Naxals.

Kunjam shot into the limelight the following year after he led a massive protest during the Assembly elections, demanding immediate “demilitarisation” of Bastar and the implementation of the Sixth Schedule in the region to empower the tribals.

A member of the Adivasi Mahasabha, he was also among the tribal leaders who campaigned for pro-tribal laws like the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and was also instrumental in protesting against the Salwa Judum, which was disbanded after a Supreme Court ruling in 2011.

Kunjam, who rose to become a member of the CPI national executive and was appointed the state CPI secretary, resigned from all party posts in early 2024, claiming that the party did not give him symbol in the November 2023 Assembly polls that he contested.

In September last year, Kunjam founded a new social organisation, Bastariya Raj Morcha, and became its convener. He said one of the major demands of this outfit is separate statehood for the Bastar region. Its avowed objectives also include campaigns for the tribal rights on issues related to Jal, Jungle and Zamin (water, forest and land).

Besides the CPI, social organisations like the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan (CBA) have condemned the ACB’s raids on Kunjam’s house.