MInister to inspect Museum site today

Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma will visit Ayodhya on Tuesday, a move likely to be seen by the BJP’s rivals as a tactical step with the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls just months away.

Mr Sharma will inspect a 25-acre site chosen for building a museum dedicated to the Ramayana, about 15 km away from the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s rivals may see Mr Sharma’s visit to the proposed museum’s site as going back to the old Ram temple issue. The BJP, however, has said it will not make the Ram temple issue its UP poll plank.

Mr Sharma said his visit is not politically motivated. “My visit to Ayodhya has nothing to do with UP assembly elections. I am visiting there as a tourism minister,” he said.