Bengaluru, Oct 20: Former Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday asked his party BJP's State president Nalin Kumar Kateel to refrain from making disparaging remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"No one should speak like that. I will talk to him to know what the background was behind such a statement. There was no need to speak that way," Yediyurappa told reporters in Sindagi where he had gone to campaign for the BJP candidate for the coming Assembly bypolls.

He said no one should speak in a derogatory way against a leader like Rahul Gandhi for whom his party workers have respect.

There has been a war of words between Congress and the BJP following a tweet by the former's Karnataka unit targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week.

Disapproving the tweet, the Congress State chief D K Shivakumar said the uncivil one made by a novice social media manager through the Karnataka Congress official twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn.

On Tuesday, Kateel made disparaging comments against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. His remarks drew sharp reaction from the Congress.

Today, the BJP locked horns with former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy for his comments against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The BJP took to Twitter to lash out at Kumaraswamy and made remarks on his personal life.

Reacting to them, Kumaraswamy warned the BJP asking it refrain from getting personal as he said he knew the truth of many leaders of the saffron party.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI): The iconic Taj Mahal in Agra earned the "highest income" through the sale of tickets among the ASI-protected monuments from FY19-20 to FY23-24, according to data shared by the government.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared the data in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha.

He was asked the amount that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has received from selling entry tickets to various monuments in the last five years, year-wise and monument-wise; and the monuments that have received the highest income through selling entry tickets in the last five years.

In his response, the minister shared the data in a tabular form for cycles of financial years ranging from FY19-20 to FY23-24.

According to the data, Taj Mahal earned the top slot for all five years.

The Mughal-era architectural wonder was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jehan in the 17th century and it is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

In FY19-20, the Agra Fort in Agra and Qutub Minar in Delhi were in the second and third positions.

In FY20-21, the Group of Monuments Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu and Sun Temple, Konark were in the second and third positions. In FY23-24, Qutub Minar and Red Fort of Delhi were in the second and third positions.