Modi Govt Likely to Bring Proposal to Rename India as Bharat During Parliament special session

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 5th Sept. During the extraordinary session of Parliament scheduled for September 18-22, the Narendra Modi government is expected to propose renaming India Bharat.

The movement to rename India Bharat by amending the Constitution has gained momentum. As a result, the Centre might bring forth a new resolution on it, according to sources.

The news comes after G20 Summit 2023 invitations from President Draupadi Murmu’s office that read “The President of Bharat” instead of “President of India” became public. The invitations to the G20 Summit in 2023 sparked a controversy between the Congress and the BJP.

Soon after the formal invitation to G20 delegates was released, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh attacked the Modi government on X, saying, ““So the news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhawan sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on Sept 9th in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the usual ‘President of India’. Now, Article 1 in the Constitution can read: “Bharat, that was India, shall be a Union of States.” But now even this “Union of States” is under assault.”

Ramesh further said, “Mr. Modi can continue to distort history and divide India, that is Bharat, that is a Union of States. But we will not be deterred. After all, what is the objective of INDIA parties? It is BHARAT—Bring Harmony, Amity, Reconciliation and Trust. Judega BHARAT, Jeetega INDIA!”

Furthermore, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari alleged that the BJP is afraid of the name “India.” Tiwari stated, ” PM Modi has given names like ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’, ‘Khelo India’…They (BJP) are scared of the word ‘India’, Article 1 of the Constitution says ‘India, that is Bharat’…How can this name (India) be removed…?”

Article 1 of the Constitution says that “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”. Article 1 of the Constitution recognises both India and Bharat as the official names that can be used for the country.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed hope that the government “will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with India,” despite the fact that there is no constitutional issue to naming India Bharat. He went on to say that India has “incalculable brand value that has been built up over centuries.”

While there is no constitutional objection to calling India “Bharat”, which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with “India”, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries. We should… pic.twitter.com/V6ucaIfWqj

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 5, 2023

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the ruling BJP, claiming that the saffron party opted to change the name of India to Bharat because it is thinking that its vote count will decrease.

“If an alliance of some parties become India, would they change the name of the country? The country belongs to 140 crore people, not to a party. Let’s assume if the India alliance renames itself as Bharat, would they rename Bharat as BJP then?… What’s this joke?… BJP is thinking that their vote count will decrease so they should change the name of Bharat,” Kejriwal said.

In response to the views of the Congress, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda questioned the party’s objections to every activity done for the ‘honour and glory’ of the country.

“Why do political tours in the name of Bharat Jodo hate the slogan of Bharat Mata Ki Jai? It is clear that Congress neither respects the country, nor the Constitution, nor the constitutional institutions. It only aims to praise one family (Gandhis). The entire country knows very well the anti-national and anti-constitutional intentions of Congress,” Nadda said.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, also chastised Congress politician Jairam Ramesh for his comments on G20 invitations.

“They have a problem with everything and I do not want to say anything to them. I am a ‘Bharatwaasi’, the name of my country was ‘Bharat’ and will remain ‘Bharat’ always. If Congress has a problem with this, they should find a cure for it themselves,” Chandrasekhar said.

The call to rename India Bharat is not new; in the Monsoon session, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal requested that the term India be removed from the Constitution. Bansal said that it represents colonial enslavement. Bansal’s viewpoint was supported by BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav, who suggested that a constitutional amendment be introduced to replace India with Bharat.