BSP chief Mayawati at the Mahabodhi temple on Monday. Picture by Suman

Gaya, July 15: BSP chief Mayawati, who visited the Mahabodhi Mahavihara today, held the Union and the state governments responsible for the serial blasts in Bodhgaya.

“It is the joint responsibility of the Union and the state governments to protect religious and heritage sites such as Bodhgaya where devotees and tourists from across the world visit in large numbers,” she said.

Speaking to reporters during her visit to the Mahavihara, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief said: “The Union government has washed off its hands by saying that it had alerted the state government about threat of a terrorist attack on Mahavihara. If the state government did not initiate proper steps for the temple’s safety, the Union government at least should have acted properly. Had the Union government made special security arrangements for the Mahavihara in view of the threat, the incident might have been averted. Both the governments should take a lesson from the Bodhgaya serial blasts and make special arrangements for protection of religious sites across the country.”