Two days after India welcomed eight cheetahs, brought from Namibia as a part of the world’s first such transcontinental project, Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge took a sharp aim at the ruling BJP. “Eight cheetahs of the BJP are: unemployment, inflation, poverty, hunger, communalism, hatred, violence, suppression,” Kharge tweeted in Hindi.
His tweet comes amid constant attacks from his party colleague, Jairam Ramesh, at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over comments on the Project cheetah. "Even by his own standards, the Jagadguru of Jhoot has hit a new low today. His claim that for decades nothing was done for cheetahs is a blatant lie! In this article, I have documented the efforts over the years.," Jairam Ramesh had tweeted on Saturday as PM Modi released the eight big cats in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park.
On Sunday, he tweeted a letter as a proof of his statement: "This was the letter that launched Project Cheetah in 2009. Our PM is a pathological liar. I couldn’t lay my hands on this letter yesterday because of my preoccupation with the Bharat Jodo Yatra."
Meanwhile, even amid opposition attacks, the return of big cats - that went extinct in India in 1952 - to the country after 70 years has been hailed by environment enthusiasts. Cheetahs are the world's fastest animals.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, even amid opposition attacks, the return of big cats - that went extinct in India in 1952 - to the country after 70 years has been hailed by environment enthusiasts. Cheetahs are the world's fastest animals.
{{/usCountry}}"The historic reintroduction of cheetahs in India is part of a long series of measures for ensuring sustainability and environment protection in the last eight years which has resulted in significant achievements in the area of environment protection and sustainability. . The coverage of Protected Areas which was 4.90% of the country's geographical area in 2014 has now increased to 5.03%. This includes an increase in Protected Areas in the country from 740 with an area of 1,61,081.62 sq.kms. in 2014 to present 981 with an area of 1,71,921 sq.kms," a statement from PM office's read.