Oppn cries foul on rechristening of Assam's national park by dropping Rajiv Gandhi's name

The rechristening of Rajiv Gandhi National Park in Assam to Orang National Park has not gone down well with the Opposition as the CPI and Congress leaders have slammed the BJP-led government in the state for the name change. 

Former Member of Rajya Sabha and CPI General Secretary D Raja has alleged that BJP's agenda is to resort to retitling of institutions and places even though they haven't contributed to the freedom of the country. 

"Assam is under the BJP government, the policy of BJP is just to remove names of the past leaders. They want to change everything as per their agenda. They haven't contributed anything to the freedom of the country," the CPI General Secretary said.

Former Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader KTS Tulsi called the rechristening "petty behaviour" of the BJP while adding that "there must be some dignity in governance to gain respect".

Congress Media-in charge in Assam, Bobbeeta Sharma called it another attempt of the BJP to "wipe away contributions of Rajiv Gandhi to the country and to the state of Assam".

"They (BJP) can change names, but cannot wipe away the contributions of Rajiv Gandhi as the architect of modern and progressive India", Sharma said, while adding that "Rajiv Gandhi brought peace to the state after the six-year-long agitation against illegal immigrants by signing the Assam Accord in 1985."

She further added, "Instead of recognising the contributions, the BJP is busy rewriting history".

Local communities demand name change of national park

Located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra in Darrang and Sonitpur districts, the national park is known for wild animals like Royal Bengal Tiger, Indian Rhinos, Pygmy Hog, and wild elephants. The national park covers an area of 79.28 sq km. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1985, and a national park in 1999.

The Assam Cabinet on Wednesday decided to rename Rajiv Gandhi National Park, also a Tiger reserve, as Orang National Park. The decision was taken after taking cognisance of the Adivasi and tea tribe community’s demands to change the name from Rajiv Gandhi to Orang National Park, government spokesperson and Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika said at a media briefing after the meeting.

The meeting was held for the first time at the new State Guest House at Koinadhara which had earlier served as the official residence of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.