What happened to Anti-Romeo Squad, Akhilesh Yadav asks Yogi

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav blasted UP CM Adityanath on Thursday and took dig at his anti-Romeo squads over the attack on a Swiss couple in Agra.

“What happened to anti-Romeo squads? A couple visiting Fatehpur Sikri were beaten when they tried to click a selfie. There has been unprecedented rise in cases of crime and loot in the state,” Yadav asked on Thursday while addressing a press conference in Lucknow.

Taking swipe at Yogi’s visit to the Taj Mahal, he said it is Lord Rama’s kamaal (miracle).

“See how time changes...BJP did not consider it as heritage...and now the CM is cleaning West Gate of Taj Mahal with a ‘jhadu’ (broom). It is good that SP workers from Agra have come here, otherwise they would have used broom at West Gate of Taj. He (CM) is wielding broom there. We have nothing to do with it,” he further added.

It is important to note that Yadav had visited the Taj as the UP chief minister about two years ago on Valentine’s Day and sat on one of the benches in front of the monument along with his wife and Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav.

Analysts feel that Yogi’s visit is a damage control exercise after a series of controversies erupted around the Taj. The first controversy erupted when UP tourism department booklet did not mention white marble monument in its list of development projects in the state.

At a rally in Bihar last year, Yogi Adityanath had said that the Taj does not represent Indian culture and that visiting foreign dignitaries should be presented with the Gita rather than replicas of Taj Mahal.

With inputs from agencies