All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday admitted he had played a crucial role in the rejection of forest clearance to the Niyamgiri bauxite mines and assured local tribals here that he would continue to fight to protect their interests.
Mr Gandhi, whose visit to this poverty-stricken part of the state comes three days after the Union ministry of environment and forests set aside the forest clearance to the Vedanta refinery project, said to the tribals: “Two years ago you had requested me to save Niya-mgiri from being leased out to industrial houses. I had promised to work as your sipahi (soldier) in Delhi. And I have kept my pro-mise.”