“Taj Mahal is a Shiva temple, Yogi ji and many other people have told me this. I am the kind of Muslim who will walk with Yogi ji and will also get 10 to 20 thousand other Muslims along, to demolish the Taj Mahal. Yogi ji will deal the first blow, while I will follow up with the second one. Why is this symbol of slavery still standing?” Azam Khan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The agency also tweeted a video of the Samajwadi Party leader making the remark.

It is not the first time that Azam Khan has made controversial remarks about the Taj Mahal. In October last year, the Samajwadi Party leader had stated that the monument located in Agra would have been long demolished like the Babri Masjid was had it not been gaining  international attention.

#WATCH: Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan says, 'Taj Mahal is a Shiv Temple, Yogi Ji (UP CM) and many other people told me this. I am the kind of Muslim who walk with Yogi Ji & will also get 10-20 thousand other Muslims along, to demolish Taj Mahal.' pic.twitter.com/rh3gmUHDpR

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 28, 2018

The SP leader, once a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, had said that despite having court orders, the Babri Masjid was demolished. “I firmly believe that the Taj Mahal too was set to meet that same fate.... But because there is so much international attention on it, it still stands," he had reportedly said.

In fact, Azam Khan had gone on to dub the Rashtrapati Bhawan as a symbol of slavery, calling for its destruction. He had said that all reminders of slavery like Parliament, Qutab Minar, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Red Fort, Taj Mahal should all be demolished.