As Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ringing in his 72nd birthday, released at least eight cheetahs into Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, Congress took a dig at the development and said the initiative was taken by them.
Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, taking to Twitter, said, "PM hardly ever acknowledges continuity in governance. Cheetah project going back to my visit to Capetown on 25.04.2010 is the latest example. The tamasha orchestrated by PM today is unwarranted and is yet another diversion from pressing national issues and Bharat Jodo Yatra."
In a thread, the former Union Minister continued, "When tigers were first translocated to Panna and Sariska during 2009-11, there were many prophets of doom. They were proved wrong. Similar predictions are being made on the Cheetah project. The professionals involved are first-rate and I wish the project the very best!"
Two of eight cheetahs were first released into quarantine enclosures from where they would be released into big enclosures after some time.
PM climbed on a raised platform where he rotated a handle to release the cheetahs into the enclosure. He also shot photos of the cheetahs with a camera.
As per official documents, it was in Korea, now in Chhattisgarh, where the last cheetahs of the country were spotted and killed in 1947, the year when the country achieved its Independence from British rule.
This happens to be the world’s first intercontinental cheetah translocation project, for which India and Namibia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 20, 2022.
As per the MoU, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia- three males and five females.
