‘Importing Cheetahs, Letting Them Die’: BJP’s Varun Gandhi Attacks Own Party Again

New Delhi: Not for the first time, BJP MP Varun Gandhi has attacked his own party and its Central government.

Slamming the decision to bring cheetahs from Africa and ‘allow’ them to die as ‘cruel’, the MP from UP’s Pilibhit called for a focus on conserving India’s endangered species.

Varun’s remarks come in the backdrop of nine cheetah deaths in Kuno National Park in a span of five months, and amid reports of the next batch of big cats to be brought from South Africa may be released in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, also in Madhya Pradesh.

“Importing cheetahs from Africa and allowing nine of them to die in a foreign land is not just cruelty, it’s an appalling display of negligence. We should focus on conserving our own endangered species and habitats rather than contributing to the suffering of these magnificent creatures,” Varun wrote on X, tagging a report on next batch of cheetahs to be flown in.

“This reckless pursuit of exotic animals must end immediately, and we should prioritise the welfare of our native wildlife instead,” he added.

Last month, Varun took a jibe at UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

He asked people at an event in UP not to disturb a sadhu (ascetic) and said nobody knows “when ‘maharaaj ji’ will become the chief minister.”

The sadhu’s phone had started ringing, but Varun stopped BJP workers from asking him to switch it off.

“Please don’t stop him, never know when ‘maharaaj ji’ will become the chief minister. Then what will happen to us?” he had been quoted as saying by PTI.

Under Project Cheetah, the first batch of big cats from Namibia was released in Kuno National Park by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday last year.

In February, the second batch of cheetahs were flown in from South Africa and again released at Kuno.

Nine cheetahs, including three cubs born in India, died till early August this year.