A booklet by the UP government did not include the Taj Mahal as a tourist destination.
Highlights
- UP minister said the omission was a 'miscommunication'
- List includes Gorakhnath temple, headed by Yogi Adityanath
- Yogi Adityanath in June said Taj doesn't reflect Indian culture
The absence of Taj Mahal in the tourist brochure of the Uttar Pradesh government has drawn a stinging response from Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
The 17th Century monument -- described often as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World" and is the biggest draw for tourists -- has
found no mention in a booklet released by Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Monday.
Today, in a Hindi tweet, Mr Gandhi invoked famous Hindi writer Bhartendu Harishchandra to attack the state's BJP government and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The tweet from the Congress vice-president, who will be visiting his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi tomorrow, read: "
Sooraj ko deepak na dikhane se uski chamak nahi ghat-ti. Aise hi raj ke liye Bhartendu ne likha tha andher nagari, chaupat raja. (The brightness of the sun would not reduce if a lamp doesn't shine on it. It is for such a government Bhartendu had written '
andher nagari, chaupat raja),"
The quoted phrase roughly translates to "unjust regime of a mindless king".
The booklet has tourist destinations including the Gorakhpur temple where Yogi Adityanath is chief priest.
The booklet, released on a function to mark the completion of six months by the BJP government in the state, lists the important tourist destinations in the state. The list includes the temple of Gorakhnath at Gorakhpur, which is headed by the Chief Minister.
In June, Yogi Adityanath had said the monument to love built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan does not reflect Indian culture. This is why, foreign VIPs are gifted copies of the Gita and the Ramayana now by government officials instead of replicas of the Taj.
State minister Sidharth Nath Singh attributed the omission to a "miscommunication". To indicate that the government was not neglecting Taj Mahal, he said the government was considering the construction of an international airport at Agra for the convenience of tourists.