iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The BJP government came under fire over the “President of Bharat” printed on a G20 dinner invitation instead of the customary “President of India” on September 5, 2023. The invitation from President Droupadi Murmu heckled the opposition parties and the Congress claimed that the BJP is “scared” of the INDIA bloc and is diverting people’s attention from more relevant issues facing the nation like price rise and mushrooming joblessness.
Opposition parties also blamed the BJP for trying to change the name of India to Bharat. Government sources however dismissed the accusation as baseless.
The G20 Summit under India’s presidency will be held in Delhi from September 9 to 10. U.S. President Joe Biden and several heads of state from across the world are scheduled to attend the event. Invitees for the event include leaders and delegates from 40 countries, including the 20 member states.
“Rashtrapati Bhawan has 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,” general secretary of Indian National Congress, in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh.
Opposition leaders claimed that the “Bharat” was used deliberately by the Narendra Modi government instead of India in English language communication to prevent the recently formed opposition alliance, INDIA bloc, from being identified with the country’s name. The leaders also alleged that this “name change” could come up during the special session of parliament to be held between September 18-22. Government officials, not wishing to be quoted, however, dismissed the claim and said that there is no move to change the name of the country.
Responding to Congress’ allegations, BJP President JP Nadda said, “Why does the Congress have an objection to every subject related to the honor and pride of the country?” “Why do those who do political marches in the name of Bharat Jodo and hate the slogan of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’? The nation knows the anti-national and anti-constitutional ideologies of Congress,” tweeted Nadda.
Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, also criticized the Congress on the issue: “They have a problem with everything. I am a ‘Bharatwaasi’, the name of my country was ‘Bharat’, and will always remain ‘Bharat’. If Congress has a problem with this, they should find a cure for it themselves.”
Former Lok Sabha Speaker and senior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan said that the country’s original name was “unquestionably” Bharat and changing it to “India” was the legacy of the British. “I do not understand why there should be a dispute over the names- Bharat and India. The original name of our country was Bharat. The country is also called Hindustan,” Mahajan said. “The British started addressing Bharat as India as per their understanding. Due to the British rule over Bharat, the term remained in vogue.” Mahajan said no person should have any objection to India being called Bharat. “We, as citizens of Bharat, call ourselves Bharatiya.”
Shashi Tharoor, senior Congress leader and the party’s Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram said, “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 continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognized around the world.”
