Nana Patole, who heads the Congress unit in Maharashtra, has accused the Centre of deliberately causing harm to farmers by bringing cheetahs from an African country, a continent where the lumpy skin disease is said to have originated.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Patole is heard explaining that the lumpy skin disease virus existed in Nigeria for a long time and cheetahs also came to India from there.
The big cats were flown all the way from another African nation, Namibia, to be rehomed in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the eight cheetahs in the national park last month in a much-publicised event on a day that also marked his 72nd birthday.
"This lumpy virus has been prevailing in Nigeria for a long time and the Cheetahs have also been brought from there. Central government has deliberately done this for the losses of farmers," the Maharashtra Congress chief is heard saying with aides by his side.
Maharashtra minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said Patole's observation is hilarious and everyone is laughing at him. “Everyone in the country is laughing at the remarks of the Congress chief and the Congress's condition in the country. Cheetahs were brought from Namibia and not from Nigeria. Such an observation is hilarious,” the minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI
{{/usCountry}}Maharashtra minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said Patole's observation is hilarious and everyone is laughing at him. “Everyone in the country is laughing at the remarks of the Congress chief and the Congress's condition in the country. Cheetahs were brought from Namibia and not from Nigeria. Such an observation is hilarious,” the minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI
{{/usCountry}}The lumpy virus has affected lakhs of bovine animals across the country with Rajasthan being the worst hit.
According to the Centre, the disease has spread in cattle in as many as 15 states. The government has prepared an indigenous vaccine to curtail the virus' spread.