NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary and chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh could not resist from puncturing Prime Minister Modi’s claim of his initiative in bringing Cheetahs that had become extinct in India in 1952.
He lambasted the “Tamasha” orchestrated by the PM, noting that the Project Cheetah proposal was prepared by him in 2009-11 during his tenure as the Environment and Forest Minister. He tweeted: “PM hardly ever acknowledges continuity in governance. Cheetah project going back to my visit to Cape Town (capital of South Africa) on 25.04.2010 is the latest example.” He also released his photograph with a Cheetah in Cape Town.
He said PM Modi is habitual of taking credit for everything and no surprise if he one day claims credit for India achieving independence in 1947 or at least assert that the credit goes to a Gujarati — Mahatma Gandhi.
“The Tamasha orchestrated by PM on Saturday is unwarranted and is yet another diversion from the pressing national issues,” Jairam said.
“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,” he added.
The Congress tweeted that the “Project Cheetah” was prepared in 2008-09 and approved by the then Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. “The then environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh went to Cheetah outreach centre in South Africa in April 2010.”
In a tweet, Jairam also shared an article he had written in a daily a few weeks ago that gave a history of why and how Saturday’s event of the cheetah’s arriving in India was made possible. In his piece, Ramesh had also talked about his visit to the Cheetah Outreach Centre in Cape Town and the efforts under the programme back then.
