India, Sept. 8 -- Staff at the iconic Eiffel Tower went on strike on Monday, alleging that female employees were sidelined during a private visit by a Hindu delegation to the Paris landmark, media reports said.

In a statement, the CGT trade union condemned what it described as "workplace instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible on the basis of their gender", France 24 reported.

The dispute stems from a private visit last week by a Hindu delegation of around 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), which recently inaugurated its first Hindu temple in Paris.

SETE, the company that operates the Eiffel Tower, said the delegation had requested tha...