BJP criticises Assam govt, minister on KNP

At a time when the Kaziranga National Park was facing its worst crisis due to flood and poaching, the BJP today accused the government of being involved in the act of settling down illegal migrants by clearing the jungle.

"Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain have hatched a big conspiracy to free the park so that illegal migrants could be settled to increase the Congress vote bank", party MP Rajen Gohain told reporters here.

The Congress party, particularly Hussain, was trying to evict indigenous people from the buffer zone of the park to allow the migrants to encroach on the forest areas, Gohain said.

The government has declared a tiger zone inside the park. But there are 185 villages housing indigenous people in the core area who have to removed as nobody is allowed to reside in a forest core zone, he said.

"But significantly the government has declared buffer zone for the tiger project where illegal migrants have encroached thereby allowing them to stay on", Gohain said.

More than 22 animals, including nine highly endangered one horned rhinos, have perished either in the floods or at the hands of poachers since last week when the third wave of floods started.