It’s a shocking news that one of the best tourist place in not included in govt book. The BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh recently released a booklet marking six months of its rule in the state, wherein it did not include the Taj Mahal as a tourist destination. Further, the booklet includes the Gorakhpur temple, where CM Yogi Adityanath is the main priest. This comes after Adityanath earlier claimed that the Taj Mahal doesn’t represent Indian culture.
The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, has not been included in the new booklet released to mark six months of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in Uttar Pradesh. The booklet, which was released by UP Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna to promote tourist spots in the state, makes no mention of Taj Mahal.
The brochure lists important tourist destinations of Uttar Pradesh. Notably, the list includes the temple in Gorakhpur of which the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the main priest. “There has been some miscommunication which has undermined the Taj Mahal,” UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh was quoted as saying by NDTV. Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary, however, accused the BJP government of discrimination against Muslims.
On being asked about Taj Mahal‘s omission, the state tourism department said that the white marble stunner is not being neglected or marginalised. “The booklet was released only for the purposes of a press conference and is not a guide to UP’s tourism spots. It mentions new and upcoming projects of the UP tourism department, and new focus areas. There are many ongoing projects of the UP tourism at the Taj Mahal — a parking project, a Taj Agra fort linkage project and a development project, among others,” said Avanish Awasthi, a senior official of the UP Tourism Department, told the news channel.
In June this year, Taj Mahal – a Unesco World Heritage Site – was not included in the list of heritages that will be preserved by the Uttar Pradesh government. Taj Mahal, recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site, found no place in the special section titled “Hamari Sanskritik Virasat” (Our Cultural Heritage).