Agartala, Jan 13, 2025, IANS

Agartala, Jan 13 (IANS): Amid the controversy over the new emblem of the Tripura government, Chief Minister Manik Saha on Monday said that it was only after taking the opinion of all concerned and the approval of the state Cabinet that the design of the emblem was recommended to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which approved it last week. 

The Chief Minister while replying to the criticism of the emblem by the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jitendra Chowdhury, told the Tripura Assembly that the state Cabinet before approving the emblem and recommending it to the MHA, had taken the opinions of all concerned including the artists and intellectuals.

“The Left Front governed the state for 35 years but they did not finalise an emblem. The BJP government took the initiative and following all procedures finalised the government emblem,” said CM Saha, who also holds the Home and Information and Cultural Affairs portfolio.

Earlier LoP Chowdhury, who is also CPI-M state secretary and former Minister, said that the new government emblem does not represent the heritage, culture and traditions of the state.

Opposing the saffron colour in the background of the government emblem, he said that Tripura is one of the greenest states in the country and the state animal is the elephant, the background can be green or a photo of an elephant.

The LoP urged the BJP government to review the design of the government emblem.

Participating in the debate, Tourism and Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that a, public competition was also held about the design of the emblem.

“The Left parties are always fault finders, they never consider anything positively,” the Minister claimed.

The MHA responding to the Tripura government’s request, last week approved the official emblem for the Tripura government.

“Tripura gets its official state emblem. A significant milestone for the state, symbolising its unique identity. This emblem will be a proud representation of Tripura's history, culture and people," the Chief Minister had said in his social media posts.

It is after more than five decades of becoming a full-fledged state that the northeastern state has got its official emblem.

The erstwhile princely states of Tripura along with Manipur were merged into the Indian Union in October 1949 and became full-fledged states on January 21, 1972.

Meghalaya was part of Assam before becoming a full-fledged state on the same day.

All three northeastern states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Re-Organisation) Act, 1971.