Congress takes objection on lotus on G20 logo

The BJP-led Union government was criticised by the Congress party on Wednesday for utilising a lotus as the official logo of India’s G20 presidency.

Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, had opposed the idea of having the party’s official flag serve as the country’s flag, but “BJP won’t lose any opportunity to promote themselves shamelessly,” said Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications.

“Over 70 years ago, Nehru rejected the proposal to make Congress flag the flag of India. Now, BJP’s election symbol has become official logo for India’s presidency of G20! While shocking,we know by now that Mr. Modi & BJP won’t lose any opportunity to promote themselves shamelessly!” Ramesh said in a tweet.

The logo, theme, and website for India’s presidency of the G20, a multilateral organisation made up of 19 nations plus the European Union, were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

According to an official release, the G20 Logo is inspired by the vivid colours of the Indian flag and contrasts the planet Earth with the lotus, the country’s national flower, which symbolises progress over obstacles.

“The Earth reflects India’s pro-planet approach to life, one in perfect harmony with nature. Below the G20 logo is “Bharat”, written in the Devanagari script,” the statement read.

The logo’s lotus represents India’s ancient heritage, faith, and thought, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He emphasized that the globe is currently experiencing conflict, a once-in-a-century global pandemic, and a great degree of economic instability and that India’s G-20 leadership is occurring at a time of turmoil and uncertainty.

“The symbol of lotus in the G20 logo is a representation of hope in these times. No matter how adverse the circumstances, the lotus still blooms.”

“In Indian culture, both the goddesses of knowledge and prosperity are seated on a lotus. This is what the world needs the most today. Shared knowledge that helps us overcome our circumstances and shared prosperity that reaches the last person at the last mile. This is why the earth is placed on lotus too. The seven petals on the lotus in the logo are also significant. It represents the seven continents. Seven is also the number of notes in the universal language of music. In music, when the seven notes come together, they create perfect harmony,” PM Modi added further.