Gujarat Congress leader Paresh Dhanani links lion deaths to Madhya Pradesh polls

Leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani today alleged that the death of 23 Asiatic Lions in Gir was a part of a larger conspiracy to pave the way for translocation of some lions to Madhya Pradesh, which goes to polls in a few months.

"I believe that the lions could have been served poisoned food. The death of so many lions is a conspiracy. The Rupani government should clarify about this," Dhanani said. Dhanani repeated the serious allegation in a later tweet. He wrote in the tweet that the lions were fed infected animals, and also alleged that the 23 lions had been sacrificed to create panic and to send "Gujarat's Pride" to MP as a part of a political conspiracy. The state government, however, dismissed the charge, and said that Dhanani's comments hurt people of Gujarat.

"As a person in a responsible position, the leader of opposition should not be making such baseless statements. Lions are the pride of Gujarat, and the Gujarat government is committed to protecting them. The lion deaths should not be politicised," forest minister Ganpatsinh Vasava, told reporters. Vasava also said the postmortem reports showed the exact cause of the death of the 23 lions, and "not one of them was due to poisoning".

The 23 Asiatic Lions have died in Dalkhaniya range in Gir have died since September 12, four of them due to canine distemper virus.