Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s visit to the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka on Sunday, intended to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ‘Project Tiger’ was referred to as a “tamasha” by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who claimed that it held no value when his government was repeatedly dismantling environment-related laws.
Ramesh hit out at Modi saying he may get the media attention through the visit but that will not alter the reality.
“Today, the PM will take full credit for Project Tiger, launched 50 years ago in Bandipur. He will create a lot of drama while all the laws made to protect the environment, forests, wildlife and tribals living in forest areas are being demolished. Grab the headlines but the reality is quite the opposite” the Congress leader tweeted in Hindi.
Reacting to the allegations, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the party doesn’t need to take such statements seriously. “We don’t need to take such statements seriously,” Puri told ANI.
Ramesh’s remarks followed Modi’s visit to poll-bound Karnataka’s tiger reserve in Bandipur where he interacted with frontline field staff and Self Help Groups present there.
During his visit in Mysuru, Modi also released the latest data on tigers, praising the increase in their population from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,167 now. Additionally, he launched the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) with the goal of combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
Earlier, the Karnataka Congress had asked Modi not to take credit for the initiative which was launched in 1973 when the Congress ruled at the Centre.
“It is true that they (Prime Minister and other BJP leaders) got publicity by going on safari. What is the BJP government’s contribution to the tiger conservation project? How much is the grant given? Why is the delusional ‘we did it’ lying by @BJP4Karnataka while not talking about their actual contributions to tiger conservation projects? answer,” tweeted the Karnataka Congress.
