In the midst of the ongoing debate surrounding the potential renaming of India as Bharat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra added fuel to the fire by addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘The Prime Minister Of Bharat’ in a social media post.
The post shared by Sambit Patra on a popular social media platform related to Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming participation in the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit in Indonesia on September 7. This move comes on the heels of speculations about the central government introducing legislation in the upcoming special session of parliament to officially rename India as Bharat.
Earlier in the day, the Congress and various opposition parties raised objections over a G20 dinner invite issued by Rashtrapati Bhawan, which read ‘President of Bharat’ instead of ‘President of India.’
The BJP, however, embraced this development and criticized the opposition parties for their reluctance to accept ‘Bharat’ as the nation’s name.
Union minister Anurag Thakur remarked, “Who is opposing the name Bharat? Now have you even started feeling the pain at the mention of Bharat? These are the same people who put party before the nation and are stuck in the quicksand of politics. They also have attempted to malign the country from foreign soil.”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the opposition of attempting to eliminate the name ‘Bharat’ and the Hindu religion, emphasizing that Bharat has a timeless legacy. “Bharat is as old as the sun and the moon. As long as the sun and the moon are in existence, Bharat will continue to exist… Every state and its people want the country to be known as Bharat,” Sarma asserted.
Constitutional expert PDT Achary has stated that any change in the name from the Republic of India to Bharat would require several amendments to the Constitution. Achary emphasized the need to amend Article 1 and make necessary changes to all other related articles. He stressed that using both names interchangeably would lead to confusion, both within and outside India.
As the nation awaits further developments on this matter, the debate over India’s name change to Bharat continues to be a topic of discussion and contention.
Sources By Agencies
