Distorting national emblem an offence: WB Assembly Speaker

It is more bothered about communal polarisation and distortion of history, Chatterjee said.The Trinamool Congress earlier said the lions in the original national emblem were graceful while those put atop the new Parliament building were aggressive.West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar claimed that the TMCs allegations are baseless.

West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Wednesday said that 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.

Banerjee’s comment comes in the backdrop of a raging controversy over the alleged distortion of the national emblem. Opposition parties accused the Centre of replacing the “graceful and regally confident” Ashokan lions with those having menacing and aggressive posture, while the ruling BJP asserted that the lions atop the new parliament building are a “scaled up” version of the original emblem.

“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,” the West Bengal Assembly Speaker said.

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

Senior Trinamool Congress leader and state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee claimed that this ''distortion'' is part of the BJP's efforts to distort the country’s history.

“The BJP government is least bothered about issues concerning the people. It is more bothered about communal polarisation and distortion of history,” Chatterjee said.

The Trinamool Congress earlier said the lions in the original national emblem were ‘graceful’ while those put atop the new Parliament building were ‘aggressive’.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar claimed that the TMC's allegations are baseless. “There is nothing wrong with the national emblem. Lion is a carnivorous animal. So, the difference that the TMC is trying to point at is baseless,” he said. Union Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday 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.