‘Corporators can’t use Ashok Stambh on letterheads’

No corporator can use the emblem of India, the Ashok Stambh on any official communication, according to the civic body.

No corporator can use the emblem of India, the Ashok Stambh on any official communication, according to the civic body.

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Amita Shah, a Bharatiya Janata Party corporator, had written to mayor Shraddha Jadhav asking for permission to use the emblem on her official letterhead and on business cards.

“If a member of Parliament (MP) and member of the legislative assembly (MLA) can use ‘Satyamev Jayate’ and the Ashok Stambh logo on their letterhead, why can’t we corporators use them? We, too, are people’s representatives,” said Shah at the BMC's general body meeting on Friday.

The issue was discussed at the civic group leaders’ meeting, chaired by the mayor in her chambers. Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar attended the meeting. Kumar said it was not possible to allow corporators to use the Ashok Stambh.

Shah told the Hindustan Times that the logo, if used, would make a difference. “Officials from the central and state government do not take corporators seriously. If we had a letterhead with the Ashok Stambh and the slogan ‘Satyamev Jayate’, it would make a difference,” she said.

Sunil Prabhu Shiv Sena leader in the BMC said, “Corporators can print the words satyamev jayate on their letterhead, without any logo.”

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, too, opposed the move. Mangesh Sangale MNS leader in the BMC said, “When one of the richest civic bodies has a separate identity why should corporators need another logo? The Ashok Stambh has constitutional value so it would not be correct to permit corporators to use it on their letterheads or visiting cards.”