Actually, Karma started his political career with Communist Party of India (CPI) . In fact, he went on to win 1980 general election on a CPI ticket.
In 1996, He won from ‘Bastar' Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate.
After sometime, He moved over to Congress and won the assembly elections from ‘Dantewada' constituency. He served as prison minister in Digvijay Singh government.