Kodagu residents urge CM Bommai, PM Modi to rename of Rajiv Gandhi National Park after Field Marshal Cariappa

Madikeri: An online petition has been initiated by the residents of Kodagu demanding the change of the name of Nagarahole National Park (Tiger Reserve) also known as Rajeev Gandhi National Park.

Kodagu-based activists Naveen Madappa and Vinay Kayapanda have initiated an online campaign on Change.org on Friday demanding that the Nagarahole national park be named after Kodandera Madappa Cariappa.

The campaign was launched on August 7 with an aim to sign around 7,500 people, it reached 6,404 signatories on Sunday and still counting.

The petition has been tagged to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The petition reads that the Nagarahole national reserve forest was renamed after former PM Rajiv Gandhi only to impress a particularly political family and the party. Kodagu residents demand that the national park must be renamed after Karnataka origin General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa or at least must restore its previous name.

Cariappa, born on 28 January 1899 in Madikeri, Kodagu, was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army and had a distinguished military career spanning three decades.

The petition comes days after PM Modi announced the renaming of the Khel Ratna award. The award was renamed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.