Row over national emblem design | Saffron camp trying to distort country’s history: Trinamool

State Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said the alleged distortion of the national emblem should not have happened, especially in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as it is a punishable offence.

“There is a law in our country under which distortion of the national flag and national anthem is a punishable offence. The same is for the national emblem. But I wonder how the national emblem is being distorted and that too in the presence of the Prime Minister. This should not have happened,” said Banerjee.

Buy Now | Our best subscription plan now has a special price

On Monday, the Prime Minister unveiled the national emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament building.

“This is nothing but an attempt by the central government to distort and change the history of the country. They are also trying to change the country’s heritage and culture. They have already tried to divide society. Now, they have targeted the national emblem and trying to distort the actual design,” alleged TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee.

In Darjeeling, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to comment on the alleged distortion of the national emblem by the Centre, saying she needs some time to study the matter. “I will not comment on this now. Let me first study the matter properly. Then I will speak on this,” Banerjee told reporters after meeting Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan.

Earlier, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar accused the BJP government at the Centre of insulting the national emblem by installing an “aggressive version of the Ashokan Lions” as a national emblem atop the new parliament building.

The Trinamool Congress earlier said the lions in the original national emblem were ‘graceful’ while those put atop the new Parliament building were ‘aggressive’. On Tuesday, Union minister Smriti Irani targeted the TMC for its criticism and said this was expected from the party that “insults Goddess Kali”

Reacting to Chatterjee’s comments, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said, “Opposition parties are unnecessarily politicising the issue. It is normal for lions to have large teeth as they are carnivorous. It is normal for them to bare their teeth. A party that does not respect Goddess Kali will find faults in everything.” On Tuesday, Union Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in New Delhi that the bronze cast of the national emblem atop the new parliament building is a “scaled up” version of the original Sarnath emblem.