Hyderabad, May 17: Political controversy has erupted in West Bengal after the BJP government began replacing the ‘Biswa Bangla’ logo on official platforms with the national Ashoka symbol.
The ‘Biswa Bangla’ branding, introduced during the tenure of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2013, had become a prominent identity symbol associated with Bengali culture, tourism, handicrafts and state promotion campaigns.
The latest changes became visible after authorities removed the Biswa Bangla board from the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and installed the Ashoka emblem in its place.
The redesign has also extended to digital government platforms, including the ‘Egye Bangla’ portal that connects various state government departments and citizen services.
Officials reportedly replaced the earlier white and blue colour theme with saffron-themed graphics.
The updated portal now prominently displays the Ashoka symbol along with a photograph of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
Icons representing departments such as tourism, agriculture and industry have also been redesigned using saffron visuals.
The Biswa Bangla logo, based on the Bengali alphabet letter ‘B’, was officially launched on September 16, 2013, during the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee.
Over the years, the logo became closely linked with Bengal’s branding initiatives and was extensively used across state-run institutions, events and promotional material.
BJP leaders defended the decision, arguing that a logo designed during a previous political administration should not continue as the official symbol of government institutions.
They maintained that the Ashoka emblem represents the constitutional identity of India and should be uniformly used across official platforms.
The move, however, is expected to trigger political reactions from the Trinamool Congress, which has often projected Biswa Bangla as a symbol of Bengali pride and cultural identity.
The changes have now intensified political debate in West Bengal ahead of upcoming political activities in the state.
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