Former chief minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat on Monday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sangeet Som, who said Taj Mahal was built by "traitors", saying that the BJP should also demolish Red Fort as it was too built by Mughals.
"The Red Fort in Delhi was also built by traitors; we called them the ruler of India who made Taj Mahal. You have demolished Babri Masjid, so all BJP members should demolish Taj Mahal and Red fort also. Few other traitors have also made Rashtrapati Bhavan and Indian Parliament, they should also be demolished," said Rawat.
Som, earlier in the day, had courted controversy, stating that the iconic Taj Mahal was built by traitors and hence, cannot be included in the Indian history.
This controversial statement has come weeks after Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi rejected reports of Taj Mahal's exclusion from the state government's new tourism booklet.
Commenting over the recent statements of the BJP leader, Rawat said "it seems like all BJP members are commenting after drinking 'somras'."
It was earlier reported that the Taj Mahal, which is one of the seven wonders of the world, was not mentioned in a new booklet released by the Yogi Adityanath-led state government.
"The Taj Mahal has been the legacy of Uttar Pradesh and hence, claiming that the government is ignoring it is wrong," Joshi had said.
Earlier, it was also reported that the BJP Government in the state had not included Taj Mahal as part of Uttar Pradesh's "cultural heritage".
Som has earlier too been in news for making controversial statements. He had also been booked for making inflammatory remarks in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots.
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