Opposition in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has slammed the state government of PM Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amidst the ongoing controversy over a mosque in the city of Sambhal. Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of the Samajwadi Party (SP), claimed that the residence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow should also be excavated as there was a ‘Shivling’ under it.

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“There is a Shivling under the Chief Minister's residence in Lucknow. We know this. It should also be excavated,” the SP chief said Sunday while talking to reporters in UP’s capital city. His statement came amidst massive row over the ongoing excavation of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, called Shahi Jama Masjid. The initiative by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), mandated by a court order, has been taken to investigate claims that the structure was built over a demolished Hindu temple.

On November 24, major communal clashes had erupted in Sambhal as a massive mob of Muslim men went up in arms against the authorities. The local lawmaker from the SP party has been accused by the authorities of inciting a crowd to attack police personnel and ASI officials.

Also read: Sambhal violence: Cong calls incident a 'planned conspiracy'; security tightened outside mosque

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The SP chief earlier accused the BJP government of using such excavations to distract the masses from pressing issues like unemployment and the agrarian crisis and fuel religious polarisation. 

"Digging everywhere will not get us to any solution. There is a Places of Worship Act in our country that prohibits such things," Yadav said last week. He was referring to the law that protects the religious character of places of worship in India. Yadav added that the level of unemployment has reached a record level over the past 10 years of BJP rule in the state.

(With inputs from agencies)