As of 2017, several court cases about Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple have been inspired by P. N. Oak's theory. In August 2017, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) stated there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever housed a temple. Bharatiya Janata Party's Vinay Katiyar in 2017 claimed that the 17th century monument was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan after destroying a Hindu temple called Tejo Mahalaya and it housed a Shiva linga. This claim had also been made by another BJP member Laxmikant Bajpai in 2014. The BJP government's union minister of culture Mahesh Sharma stated in November 2015 during a session of the parliament, that there was no evidence that it was a temple. The theories about Taj Mahal being a Shiva temple started circulating when Oak released his 1989 book Taj Mahal: The True Story. He claimed it was built in 1155 AD and not in the 17th century, as stated by the ASI. Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan stated Taj might be destroyed like Babri Masjid as people believed there was a temple there. Katiyar called for the demolition of the Taj and its replacement by a temple in February 2018. In response Indian National Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called him a troglodyte.