NCJammu, Oct 22 (PTI) Calling the Taj Mahal India's pride,opposition National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir said todaythat controversial statements by some BJP leaders against thehistorical monument were aimed at "testing the waters" aheadof polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
"Those generating passions (by commenting) on historicalmonuments, including the Taj Mahal, are anti-national," NCprovincial president Devender Singh Rana said.
Addressing public meetings in the Nagrota assemblyconstituency here, Rana called the Taj Mahal India's pride.
BJP legislator from Uttar Pradesh, Sangeet Som, hadquestioned the Taj Mahal's place in India's heritage and saidhistory would be rewritten to erase Mughal emperors from it.
Vinay Katiyar, another leader from the party, a few dayslater claimed the Taj was Lord Shiva's temple called 'TejoMahal', which was converted into a mausoleum by Shahjahan.
Rana said the BJP's attack on the 17th-century marvel wasmeant for "testing the waters" to make such monuments a plankin the state polls in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnatakaand "one of the core issues in the 2019 general elections."He said the Taj Mahal was not only one of the sevenwonders of the world, but also a symbol of national diversity.
Without naming Som, Rana said his comments cannot beignored as they appear to be a "well-planned strategy" by theBJP to "divide" the Indian society on communal lines.
Rana, however, said he was assured about the politicalsagacity of people who have not allowed passions drive them.
The BJP governs Jammu and Kashmir in alliance with thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP), after it threw the NC intoopposition following the state elections in 2015.
Rana said it was only a matter of time when the people ofthe state will show them the door. "The BJP is undergoing thedescending phase across the country and the day is not farwhen Jammu and Kashmir will prove to be its waterloo." PTI TASABH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.