Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has landed himself in yet another controversy for speaking his mind while giving a speech on June 17 by suggesting that "Taj Mahal and other such monuments did not reflect Indian Culture". Now (under BJP government), foreign dignitaries visiting India are gifted copies of the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana when they come to India instead of minarets of Taj Mahal.

During a recent interview when Yogi was questioned about the same yet again, he said that "our identity cannot revolve around Taj Mahal".

In an interview with The Republic, he said - "India's identity revolved around Taj Mahal and we have to take that identity to Srimad Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana. Now if you want to compare Ramayana and Srimad Bhagavad Gita with Taj Mahal then I must say it is unfortunate."

For what he was trying to say was the true spirit of India cannot encapsulate in renowned monuments but in the cultural and spiritual pursuits of the people. India can be identified by the Ramayana, the Vedas and various other traditions but it was restricted to Taj Mahal alone, Yogi said.

When asked who restricted it to that, he clearly stated in the Republic interview that "the secularists in this country had done it".

"They gave rise to a type of situation and tried to curtail the real identity of India that makes this country what it is and represented this country in front of the whole world but they restricted it to just Taj Mahal and it was in that context that I made the statement," clarified Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

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