Taj Mahal built by blood and sweat of Indian labourers: Yogi Adityanath

New Delhi: A day after Uttar Pradesh government distanced itself from BJP MLA Sangeet Som's controversial remarks about Taj Mahal being built by a traitor, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that what mattered is that the monument is a result of the hardwork put in by Indian labourers.

The Taj Mahal was commissioned in 1632 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan after thousands of labourers, masons and artisans worked for over two decades. On Monday, Som said the ivory-white marble mausoleum was a blot on Indian culture. Adityanath though will visit Agra and the Taj Mahal on October 25 and said on Tuesday that what matters is that Indian workers worked hard to build it. "It does not matter who built it and for what reason. It was built by the blood and sweat of Indian labourers," he said.

While Som has been getting brickbats for his comments, the UP government and BJP too have been targeted by some like All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi. "Comments like these from a leader of BJP cannot be his personal opinion and is a reflection of the party itself," he said.

This is hardly the first controversy for the UP government related to the Taj Mahal. Earlier this month, the Yogi government received flak for not mentioning Taj Mahal in a tourist brochure released by state Tourism Minister  Rita Bahuguna. Later, after reports in a section of the media regarding the Taj Mahal, the state tourism ministry issued a press release detailing a number of projects it had initiated for the Taj Mahal and areas around it.