A Bad Sign

Mamata’s nephew’s claim to a state logo raises a political storm

- Romita Datta

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s plans to promote nephew Abhishek Banerjee as ‘No. 2’ in the ruling Trinamool Congress may be in jeopardy. Mukul Roy, the CM’s long­time confidant who recently quit to team up with the BJP, has blown the lid off a closely guarded secret: the Biswa Bangla logo, employed to hard­sell Bengal and promote official programmes, is allegedly owned by Abhishek and not the state, as people were apparently led to believe.

Roy alleges that even the FIFA Under­17 World Cup finals, hosted in Kolkata by the state government and promoted using the Biswa Bangla logo, was in fact sponsored privately by a company owned by Abhishek. The allegations brought into the public domain a long­ pending tussle over the ownership of the logo between Abhishek and the state government.