BJP Member of Parliament from Karnataka, Pratap Simha has written to the Union government asking that Rajiv Gandhi Nagarahole National Park and Tiger Reserve in Karnataka be renamed. The MP from Kodagu has asked that the park be named after Field Marshal KM Cariappa instead of the former Prime Minister. His demand comes hours after the Assam government decided to rename Rajiv Gandhi National Park in the state to Orang National Park.
Pratap in his letter to the Union Minister of Forest, Umesh Vishwanath Katti, on August 30, stated that there are several national parks in the country which bear the names of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The MP said it was an attempt to wrongfully appropriate the inheritance of the projects of the Government of India (GoI), which aim to preserve wildlife, save flora and fauna and restore the natural ecological balance of forests.
The name for the national park being proposed by the MP is that of Field Marshal KM Cariappa, who hailed from Kodagu and was the first Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Pratap Simha has sought the name change of the park, citing it as a mark of recognition for Cariappa’s commendable service. Cariappa was conferred the rank of Field Marshal on 28 April 1986.
Pratap also said that an online campaign has been started by the residents of Kodagu with calls for a name change. He added that with a population of over two lakh, the district has produced three Lieutenant Generals in the Indian Army. “A total of 11 officers from the region have occupied top posts in the Army so far, and Kodagu has the rare distinction of having 20 serving Major Generals and four Air Marshals. The town already had a museum in the name of former Army General Thimmaiah,” said the MP in his letter, to justify the need for the name change he proposed.
Meanwhile, The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) condemned the BJP-led Assam government's decision to rename Rajiv Gandhi National Park to Orang National Park and accused the BJP of resorting to “petty attitudes”, the New Indian Express reported.
"This is a foolish decision," said the former Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on the Assam government's decision.
Recently, the Union government renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. And in August, in Karnataka, BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi called for the renaming of Indira Canteens. These canteens provide food at low cost and were first started in 2017 by the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.