Parliament dress codes should retain neutrality

livemint.com:

Atmanirbhar Bharat, and this wheel evokes thoughts of the Mahatma, by and large, far more than of his party affiliation. Pointing to our national flag being inspired by a particular party’s—with an Ashokan wheel in place of a Gandhian one—only amounts to whataboutery. At one time, the Congress dominated our political arena.

Today, the BJP does, and its own iconography has been ascendant. Half a century ago, any electoral use of state resources was scandalous; recall how then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s campaign conveyance whipped up a storm. Perceptions of propriety, though, do shift over time.

Often, what separates national symbolism from party promotion is a line that’s too blurry for objections to be raised. But then, as with other such ambiguities, we need a simple test to check whether a semiotic deployment is unfair to rival parties in our democracy. We should go by the eyes of beholders: What association popularly comes to mind at the sight of an official icon? If it’s a formation whose public salience as a visual identity can tilt ballot outcomes, then it needs to be called out.

Lotus motifs on shirts may seem subtle to NIFT designers and those who okayed the switch, but they are not. In a spatial context that demands the decorum of democratic neutrality, that design glares out. Send it back to the sketch board.