Terming the Uttar Pradesh government anti-Dalit, the Congress on Thursday said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was only indulging in a photo opportunity by visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra.

“After making full attempts to tarnish and blemish the image of the Taj Mahal, the Chief Minister is indulging in photo opportunity and it reeks of hypocrisy and doublespeak.

“Two incidents from Uttar Pradesh have come to light which show that the Chief Minister and his Bharatiya Janata Party government should focus on law and order rather than PR exercises for self-promotion,” Congress Spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said in a statement here.

Giving instances, Shergill said: “A Dalit woman Savitri Devi, who was eight months pregnant, was brutally attacked in broad daylight and ultimately succumbed to her injuries.

“This is one of the many crude, disturbing and shocking examples of rising Dalit atrocities under the BJP rule all over India. There is an anti-Dalit government in Uttar Pradesh. The Dalits of this country are paying a heavy price under the BJP rule.”

The party also slammed the state government for the attack on a Swiss couple in Fatehpur Sikri.

“In a nation where guests are treated like God, the Swiss couple (Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droxz) were harassed and attacked in broad daylight by goons, inflicting on them a skull fracture and serious injuries.

“This attack on the young foreign couple unmasks the ugly face of the “anti-Romeo squads” in UP, which is fully supported and patronised by the state government,” the Congress leader added.

“Why are the Dalits being consistently and continuously attacked under the BJP rule? Why is there a meteoric rise in Dalit atrocities in states, specifically ruled by the BJP like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

“When will Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), UP Chief Minister and the entire BJP leadership shift focus from self-promotion and public relations exercise to real-time effective governance?”

“Why is the Chief Minister busy in photo opportunities when the law and order in Uttar Pradesh is worsening at a fast pace?” Shergill asked.Taj Mahal