New Delhi, June 21 -- Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday raised concern over the Great Indian Bustard being a critically endangered species, while recalling an anecdote on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to Udaipur, which he said "triggered the conservation programme" for the bird.

In an X post, Jairam Ramesh described Indira Gandhi's meeting with ecologist Harsh Vardhan, then a member of the Rajasthan Wild Life Board, as the spark for the conservation programme and the establishment of the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer and Barmer.

Ramesh wrote, "50 years ago today, Indira Gandhi went to Haldighati to mark the 400th anniversary of the famed battle there that made Maharana Pratap inspirational and immortal. ...