'Bharat' replaces 'India' in G20 Invites: Congress slams NDA govt, BJP reacts

The invitations to the G20 summit issued from the President’s office reportedly described Droupadi Murmu as the “President of Bharat” instead of the usual “President of India”. Reacting immediately to the move, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X (formerly Twitter) and slammed the move from the NDA government.

“So the news is indeed true. 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',” Ramesh wrote. 

The Congress leader further said: “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.”

Article 1 of the Indian Constitution reads: "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."

 

 

Earlier in the day, Assam CM Himanta Sarma posted on X and proclaimed India as "Republic of Bharat". 

"Republic of Bharat- happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards Amrit Kaal," he said in a post on X.

The matter came to light three days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made an appeal to refer to the country as Bharat.

Reacting to Congress’ comments, BJP’s national president J P Nadda said why the grand old party objects to every work done for the honour and glory of this country.

“Why do doing 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.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chug also said: “Why such a fuss over writing and speaking ‘Bharat’? Why are Congress leaders so assumed of calling themselves ‘Bharatiya’? Sometimes you create a ruckus over ‘Vande Mataram, other times you have issues with ‘Rashtravad’."

On G20 Summit dinner invitations at Rashtrapati Bhawan sent in the name of ‘President of Bharat’, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that Congress has a problem with everything.

"I don't understand what is the problem with this? Our country is 'Bharat'... Congress have a problem with everything. I don't have a problem with 'Bharat'...Our country is 'Bharat' and there should be no doubts about it. We have to wait and see if it will be a part of the Special Session (of Parliament)," said Chandrasekhar.

 

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said the BJP's recent move to change the reference from 'President of India' to 'President of Bharat' on official G20 summit invitations has raised eyebrows and ignited a public debate.

"The BJP's recent move to change the reference from 'President of India' to 'President of Bharat' on official G20 summit invitations has raised eyebrows and ignited a public debate. How can the BJP strike down 'INDIA'? The country doesn't belong to a political party; it belongs to 135 crore Indians. Our national identity is not the BJP's personal property that it can modify on whims and fancies," Chadha psoted on X.

Manoj Jha, RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP, said: “We didn’t know that BJP is such a weak party. They get tensed so soon? Only a few weeks ago the Opposition had formed the INDIA alliance. And you’ve already started with your game?"

It is to be noted that "Bharat" word has already been used in a G20 booklet handed to foreign delegates, titled "Bharat, The Mother Of Democracy", to highlight, in India's G20 presidency, its rich democratic ethos for thousands of years.

"In Bharat that is India, taking the consent of the people in governance has been part of life since earliest recorded history," are the opening words of the booklet.

Meanwhile, India Today reported that the Centre is planning to push a proposal to rename India as Bharat during the special session of the Parliament, scheduled from September 18-22.

The demand to rename India as Bharat by amending the Constitution has intensified. Earlier in the monsoon session of Parliament, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal demanded the removal of 'India' from the Constitution, arguing that it symbolises colonial slavery. His sentiment was supported by BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav, who too said that a constitutional amendment should be brought in to replace "India" with "Bharat".

Yadav told news agency ANI: "The entire country is demanding that we should use the word 'Bharat' instead of 'India'...The word 'India' is an abuse given to us by the British whereas the word 'Bharat' is a symbol of our culture...I want there should be a change in our Constitution and the word 'Bharat' should be added to it."