While cheetahs return to India, Cong accuses PM Modi of 'tamasha'

New Delhi, Sep 17: Even as the entire country is rejoicing the home-coming of cheetahs after over 70 years of extinction, Congress has called the event in Madhya Pradesh a "tamasha orchestrated" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh 's Kuno National Park on Saturday, which also happens to be his birthday.

Congress general secretary and in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh criticised the Prime Minister, saying he "hardly ever acknowledges continuity in governance".

"PM hardly ever acknowledges continuity in governance. Cheetah project going back to my visit to Capetown on 25.04.2010 is the latest example," Ramesh, who was the Environment and Forest minister during 2009-11, said in a tweet.

"The tamasha orchestrated by PM today is unwarranted and is yet another diversion from pressing national issues and Bharat Jodo Yatra," he said.

Ramesh recalled that when tigers were first translocated to Panna and Sariska during 2009-11, there were many prophets of doom and that 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 said.

The Prime Minister released cheetahs flown in from Namibia into a special enclosure at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh. He also clicked some pictures of the cheetahs on a professional camera after releasing them. Eight cheetahs were brought to Gwalior from Namibia in a special plane on Saturday morning as part of the cheetah reintroduction programme.

The animals were later flown to the KNP, located in Sheopur district, in two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters.

The prime minister, who is celebrating his birthday today, released two of these cheetahs into an enclosure at the KNP. The 'African Cheetah Introduction Project in India' was conceived in 2009. A plan to introduce the big cat in the KNP by November last year had suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials told PTI.