Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has slammed the BJP for creating controversy over the mughal monument Taj Mahal. He said the people of Uttar Pradesh are waiting for the day when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits Agra and get photographed in front of the medieval period monument in Agra.
“The BJP wants to re write the history of India to suit their narrow political agenda but it’s beyond their power and capacity to temper with the history. The BJP is an old master in the game of exploiting the emotions of the people.
They are always armed with the small dose of ‘Afeem’ (opium) whenever they are short of issues to reach out to the common people they inject the emotive issue in the agenda of the public discourse, said Akhilesh Yadav. He was in Meerut on Sunday to attend the marriage of the daughter of the former MlA of the party Gulam Mohammed.
SP leader said Taj mahal is not only the world heritage, the monument gives a unique identity to India world over and millions of people from all corners of the globe come every year to India to visit Taj mahal.
He said the Samajwadi party would not enter into alliance with any party and contest the impending urban local body’s elections on its own strength. On the Gujarat elections SP president said “SP is ready for alliance with the congress for Gujarat assembly elections and also contest if given at least five assembly seats’’.
He added that “ so far I have no communication with the congress vice president Rahul Gandhi about Gujarat assembly elections’’. SP president declined to comment on the prospects of alliance with the Bahujan Samaj party for the 2019 lok Sabha elections.
Taj Mahal is in the center of the raging controversy following the comments from the controversial BJP MlA from Sardhana in Meerut on October 16. His statement led to nationwide stir. The MlA had said that the Taj Mahal was a symbol of Islamic slavery built by traitors and should get no place in history of India and the Taj mahal was a “blot on Indian culture”.
Sangeet Som had found an unlikely ally in Samajwadi Party Azam Khan, who had called for the destruction of “all reminders of slavery” like the Taj mahal and Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The Taj Mahal, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, is India’s top tourism destination but has received a barrage of negative comments from top BJP leaders, including chief minister Yogi Adityanath —who in June said the ivory-white marble mausoleum didn’t represent “Indian culture”.
The 17th century structure has also seen a steady decline in footfall in recent years and is battling mounting pollution.