[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Amid raging controversy triggered by BJP leaders’ attacking Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh chief minister visits monument, initiates cleanliness drive

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on Thursday, visited the Taj Mahal in Agra in what is being seen as a damage-control exercise after several BJP leaders and his government’s tourism department dragged the 17^th century architectural marvel into a raging controversy.

Adityanath’s visit comes in the wake of contentious and ill-informed remarks made by BJP legislator Sangeet Som (who termed the marble mausoleum as a “blot on Indian culture”) and party MP from Kanpur, Vinay Katiyar (who claimed that the monument was originally a Shiva temple). The UP government’s tourism department too had drawn flak last month after it omitted any reference to the Taj Mahal in a brochure published by it to highlight tourism hotspots of the state.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]With his government and the BJP facing severe criticism over the Taj Mahal row, Adityanath had sought to control the damage to his image and that of his party by asserting at a public event that the UNESCO World Heritage site was “built by the blood and sweat of Indian labourers and sons of Bharat mata” – a comment he reiterated on Thursday. His office had then confirmed that Yogi Adityanath will be visiting Agra and the Taj Mahal to review progress of the many schemes that his government has initiated for the city and its historical monuments.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]However, on Thursday, as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister arrived in Agra and made his way to the Taj Mahal, it seemed that even his personal intervention to quell the row had failed to rein in the errant voices in his party.

With a mask on his face and gloves in his hands, Adityanath, along with his tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi in tow, kicked off a cleanliness drive from the western gate of the Taj Mahal – posing for pictures with brooms and some litter strewn right in front of them.

However, if the chief minister had hoped to sweep aside the controversy over the Taj along with the filth that one could see in the images flashed on screens of television news channels, then the attempt clearly didn’t pay off.

The BJP’s MLA from Agra North, Jagan Prasad Garg, who was accompanying the Uttar Pradesh chief minister at the Taj Mahal complex told reporters: “Several historians believe that there was a Shiva temple at the same place where the Taj Mahal is located. Mughals first demolished the Shiva temple and then built the Taj Mahal. It is a fact.” Garg was reiterating the misleading and historically inaccurate claim that was recently made by BJP MP Vinay Katiyar and has in the past been pushed by the BJP-RSS brigade and a section of self-styled historians like PN Oak who have time and again propounded the outlandish theory that the marble mausoleum stands over the debirs of a temple called the Tejo Mahalaya which was dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The Opposition didn’t seem to buy Adityanath’s visit to the Taj Mahal as a genuine attempt to silence the critics of the mausoleum commissioned by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to serve as a tomb for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Adityanath’s predecessor and Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, mocked the chief minister’s Taj Mahal visit calling it “Bhagwan Ram ka kamala (a wonder because of Lord Ram)”.

“See how times change… BJP did not consider it (the Taj Mahal) as heritage… and now the CM is cleaning the West Gate of Taj Mahal with a broom… I am waiting for him to get clicked on that seat (referring to a bench in front of Taj Mahal where visitors generally get their photograph clicked with the monument in their background),” Akhilesh told reporters in Lucknow.

Adityanath claimed that those opposing his visit to the Taj Mahal were “people who have divided the society on the basis of caste”. He perhaps chose to forget that by raking up an unnecessary controversy based on enormously flawed theories over the Taj Mahal, the BJP was trying to do exactly the same.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]