Congress president Rahul Gandhi joined the rising clamour against the killing of Avni, a tigress blamed for the deaths of 13 people in Maharashtra. "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Avni," he tweeted. Even Shiv Sena condoled the tigress’ death and took a veiled jibe at the Maharashtra government in an article in its mouthpiece Saamna. Union minister Maneka Gandhi too strongly criticised the Maharashtra government.