Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a lotus flower.
Credit: PTI Photo
A furore has broken out after reports emerged that the staff of the Parliament secretariat in the new building will have shirts with prints of the lotus, the election symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Opposition parties said that after the G20 symbol, the BJP was now using the Parliament premises for its electoral agenda. The BJP defended the move saying that the lotus is a universal symbol.
Reports have emerged that the staff in the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha will be given new uniforms, and that the National Institute of Fashion Technology has been roped in to carry out the designs. Officers in the table office, notice office and parliamentary reporting sections will wear shirts with the lotus motif. Women officers, too, will be given sarees in new designs.
The lotus motif will also feature in the designs in the carpets on the floor of the Rajya Sabha. Male officers will also have saffron coloured Nehru jackets as part of their uniforms. Marshals of the Houses will don headgears from Manipur and wear cream coloured kurta pyjamas instead of safari suits.
DH had earlier reported that during the five-day Special Session, the House will convene in the old building on September 18, the first day of the Session, but will move to the new building on September 19, celebrated as Ganesh Chaturthi.
Opposition leaders questioned the need to have the lotus symbol. Congress leader Manickam Tagore took to X to question the move. “Why lotus only? why can’t peacock or why can’t tiger? Oh they’re not BJP party election symbol. Why this fall sir @ombirlakota? (sic),” he posted.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said that this is in a series of such moves. “From Sengol to new costume for the Parliament secretariat staff... of course, magenta-colored lotus-printed cream shirt and khaki trousers,” Brittas posted on X.
The BJP defended the move, with senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that the lotus is a symbol of Indian culture. “The lotus has been accorded a place in our culture and in the sanatan dharma. Congress should be big-hearted; the whole world is praising PM Modi and has come together, and the Congress is busy criticising us. They should leave petty politics and come forward for the development of the country sometimes,” Prasad said.