The BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has rebutted a Shiv Sena leader’s allegation of breach of protocol in the implementation of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.

On Friday Rahul Shewale, group leader of Shiv Sena in Lok Sabha, had accused BMC commissioner IS Chahal of the breach. A day later, the BMC came out with a detailed rejoinder.    

In a letter to the Maharashtra chief minister, Shewale had demanded action against Chahal for not including the photographs of CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ banners put up by the BMC.

The civic body, however, said that on the occasion of 75th anniversary of Indian Independence, the BMC has been carrying out the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign from 13th to 15th August as per the directives of the central government and the state government.

It says that on July 20, the state government issued a circular regarding this campaign for the state. The BMC accordingly prepared its promotional / awareness material by downloading the logos, advertisements made available on the website of the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, GoM to create public awareness and began implementing the campaign from July 21 to July 30, 2022.

“At that time, the photographs of Hon’ble chief minister or Hon’ble deputy chief minister were not displayed nor any such instructions were received. This was true and applicable for entire state of Maharashtra. Naturally in accordance with the state-level campaign, BMC too maintained the same pattern in its public awareness campaign.

“In a meeting held on August 2, 2022, the state government issued instructions to be implemented at the state level calling for including photographs of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Chief Minister and Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister with the aim of appealing to the public as part of the next stages of the awareness campaign. These instructions were issued for the entire state of Maharashtra.
 
“Accordingly, awareness activities were immediately stopped for addition of photographs of dignitaries and suitable improvement. BMC received the approved photographs of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Chief Minister and Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister on August 6, 2022. Thereafter the awareness campaign was resumed by including these photographs,” the BMC said in its statement.

The statement further says that BMC has published hoardings and Bus Stop advertisements with government approved photographs of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Chief Minister and Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister. In a similar manner, advertisements are being published in newspapers in a phased manner from August 8, 2022 onwards. Awareness campaigns have also been undertaken using photographs of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Chief Minister and Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister on official social media accounts of BMC.

The BMC says that to maintain uniformity and consistency with the campaign material created by the government, it has circulated only the original concept-based material supplied by the state government for awareness. Only logos and images suitable to Mumbai have been added.

“As soon as instructions were received from the state government, photographs of dignitaries were included applicable to the entire state of Maharashtra. Therefore, all the guidelines have been complied with by BMC and no protocol has been breached at all,” the civic body has said.

Shewale alleged that Chahal was undermining and humiliated the new BJP-Shive Sena government by indulging in low-level politics, violating the protocol and action should be taken against him. He said it was mandatory for the elected representatives and government officials to observe the protocol.

Meanwhile, in preparation of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign BMC has distributed 41 lakhs national flags across Mumbai and an additional donation of 1 lakh flags has been given by the Tata Group. 50% of the required expenditure has been raised through CSR for illumination of heritage structures and buildings at Marine Drive. Rs. 5 crore has been received through CSR funding to celebrate 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

The BMC said that all the commercial buildings like SBI and HSBC headquarters, Air India, Trident and Marine Plaza will be bearing the cost of illuminating their buildings from their own pocket.

The BMC has done tricolour illumination in 28 buildings of Marine Drive, 100 trees, 60 street light poles and 19 statues. It has erected 4,500 banners, 1,500 standies and 350 hoardings. It also released audio clips for creating awareness among people.