The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said the symbol of lotus has been included in new passports as an additional security measure. It said lotus was chosen because it is India’s national flower.

However, this contradicts the Union government’s stand taken just five months ago in Parliament. On July 10, in a written reply, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that it has not issued any notification with regard to India having a national flower.

On Wednesday, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Kozhikode MK Raghavan raised a question in Parliament seeking the government’s response on why the symbol of lotus has been included in new passports issued in his constituency. The Congress demanded that this decision must be withdrawn at once.

On Thursday, when MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar was addressing his weekly press conference, he was asked to clarify on this matter.

Raveesh Kumar said the lotus symbol is part of a new enhanced security measure to check fake passports.

What is this (lotus) symbol? This symbol is of our national flower. It is part of the new enhanced security features to check fake passports. But let me also tell you that apart from lotus, there are other national symbols which will be used on rotation basis. This month it is lotus, next month it will be something else. These are symbols that are connected with India, the MEA spokesperson said.

Does India have a national flower?

Earlier this year, Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya in a written question asked the government to name what is India’s national animal, national bird and national flower. Acharya also enquired if the government or any competent authorities have issued any notification in this regard.

Replying to this on July 10, Union Minister of State (MoS) in the Home Ministry Nityanand Rai said, As informed by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Tiger’ and Peacock’ have been notified as the National Animal and National Bird respectively vide their Notification No. 25-1/2008-WL-I dated 30th May, 2011; however, no such notification has been issued regarding National Flower’ by MoEF&CC.

Different stands?

While the government has clearly stated in the Rajya Sabha that no notification has been issued regarding India having a national flower, there are government websites which claim lotus to be India’s national flower.

For example, the website www.india.gov.in (which is the official national portal of India) has a list of national symbols and the list claims lotus to be India’s national flower. Other national symbols in the list include the National Flag, the National Anthem, the National Song, the National Animal, the National Bird and the State Emblem.

Similarly, another government website www.knowindia.gov.in has a section called national identity elements’. It too claims lotus to be India’s national flower.

The claims made by these government websites and the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar contradict what the government said in the Rajya Sabha in July.

The government’s stated position in the Rajya Sabha was: Government of India has not issued any notification to declare any flower as national flower.

Thus, even though lotus doesn’t enjoy any legal backing in the form of a government notification to be regarded as the national flower, the MEA included the lotus symbol on passports as an enhanced security measure claiming that it was chosen because it is India’s national flower.

Interestingly, lotus is also the election symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party.