India vs Bharat row: Who says what

Amid the controversy, triggered after the invitation for the G20 dinner sent out in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ and not India, political leaders in the largest South Asian country reacted sharply.

Speaking about the issue, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that history is being rewritten in the country.

The Trinamool Congress supremo questioned the Centre and asked what changed suddenly that we should use only Bharat.

“...Today, they (Centre) changed the name of India. In the invitation card for the G20 Summit dinner, it is mentioned ‘Bharat’...In English, we say ‘India’ and the ‘Indian Constitution’ and in Hindi, we say ‘Bharat ka Samvidhan’. We all say ‘Bharat’, what is new in this? But the name ‘India’ is known to the world...What happened suddenly that they had to change the name of the country?... History is being rewritten in the country,” CM Mamata said.

Earlier in the day, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh claimed that Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on 9 September in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the usual ‘President of India’.

Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “distorting history and dividing India” and said the objective of parties in the INDIA bloc is also “BHARAT -  Bring Harmony, Amity, Reconciliation And Trust.”

“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’. 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 said on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter.

“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!” he added.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also lashed out at Congress and said that the country was Bharat and will always remain Bharat.

“They have a problem with everything and I do not want to say anything for 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,” the Union Minister said while speaking to ANI.

India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also endorsed the President for using Bharat on the official G20 invitation.

‘Bharat’ is our introduction. We are proud of it. The President has given priority to ‘Bharat’. This is the biggest statement to come out of the colonial mindset”said the Minister.

Reacting over the ‘India vs Bharat’ row, Congress leader Mani Shankar Iyer on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is scared of the Opposition alliance INDIA so the BJP is deliberately changing the name of India to Bharat.

“They are scared of the INDIA alliance. Our Constitution says ‘India, that is Bharat’, “ Mani Shankar Iyer reacted in Bhopal to reporters’ question on Harnath Singh Yadav’s comment.

Earlier, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Harnath Singh Yadav demanded that the word ‘INDIA’ should be removed from the Constitution and only Bharat should be used as the country’s name.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Harnath Singh Yadav said the entire country is demanding that the word ‘Bharat’ should be used 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,” he said.

Alleging that the invitation for the G20 dinner sent out in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ came against the backdrop of a united opposition bloc, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said that INDIA will chase BJP out of power in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

The Chief Minister also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is rattled by a single term called ‘India’.

Taking to social media platform, X, Stalin said, “After Non-BJP forces united to dethrone the fascist BJP regime and aptly named their alliance #INDIA, now the BJP wants to change ‘India’ for ‘Bharat.’ BJP promised to TRANSFORM India, but all we got is a name change after 9 years! Seems like the BJP is rattled by a single term called India because they recognise the strength of unity within the opposition.”

“During the elections, ‘India’ will chase BJP out of power!” he added.
Meanwhile, DMK MP Kanimozhi said, “We’ve never seen invitations going out in the name of ‘President of Bharat’, it is always been ‘President of India’ or Prime Minister of India’. Why have they done this now? What is the intention behind it? What is the politics behind it? It has been in the Constitution all these years but nobody used it.”

“Recently, the RSS chief said that the name of India has to be changed. Reading this after that brings up a lot of questions. Is RSS setting the agenda for the entire nation? ...We don’t know why the special session of Parliament has been called. We don’t know what the agenda is....” she added.

Earlier in the day, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-led by Mohan Bhagwat wants to change the Constitution of the country with ‘removing’ the word ‘India’ with Bharat.

On 2 September, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat during his address in Guwahati had said that people should use the name “Bharat” instead of India, and urged people to inculcate the habit.

“The name of our country has been Bharat for ages. Whatever may be the language, the name remains the same,” Bhagwat said at a programme organised by the Sakal Jain Samaj.

Reacting to the letter from the presidential palace, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Tuesday said that the Centre is scared of the word India.  
The Congress leader said that ‘India’ is mentioned in Article 1 of the country’s Constitution and how can it be removed.

“PM Modi had 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...?” Tiwari said while speaking to ANI.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Tuesday that the government of India has given another blow to the slavery mentality by replacing ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ on the invitation card for the dinner to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the G20 Summit.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Dhami posted a picture of the G20 summit invitation and wrote, “Another blow to the slavery mentality. It is a proud moment for every countryman to have ‘The President of Bharat’ written on the invitation card for the dinner to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the G20 Summit. Long live Mother Bharat!”

Notably, this is the first time that the government of India has used the term ‘Bharat’ instead of the usual term ‘India’ on an official invitation

Speaking about the issue, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that he is happy and proud that the country’s civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards Amrit Kaal.

Taking to the social media platform, X, Assam Chief Minister said, “Republic of Bharat- happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards Amrit Kaal.”

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday took a dig at the Centre asking whether they would change the name of the nation to Bharatiya Janata Party if INDIA bloc gets changed into Bharat.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Kejriwal said that the BJP-led government is doing so because the Opposition bloc has given itself the name that is –INDIA.

“I do not have any official information regarding it, but got to know through the press. This is being done because INDIA is a coalition of Opposition parties. Will they change the name of the country if someone makes a party with its name? This is a country of 140 cr people. What if the INDIA bloc decides to change its name to Bharat after holding a meeting tomorrow? Will they then change the name of Bharat to BJP?” the Delhi CM said.

He further said that the BJP is doing this because they are worried about the votes.

“INDIA has been formed and the BJP is feeling that how they will get 4 more votes. They are doing all this merely for votes. This is a betrayal of the country,” he added.

After Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took exception to the invitation for the G20 dinner sent in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ and not India, BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Tuesday said that Bharat is mentioned in country’s Constitution and that the Rajya Sabha MP is “deliberately” creating misunderstandings for no reason.

While speaking to ANI, the Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary, said, “Why is there an issue with saying or writing Bharat? Why are you feeling ashamed, Jairam Ramesh Ji?”

He said that our nation has been called Bharat since ancient times and it is even mentioned in our Constitution. “They are trying to create misunderstandings for no reason,” Chugh added.

Amid the ongoing controversy over using ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan’s latest tweet has caught the eyeballs of all the fans.

On Tuesday, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Amitabh wrote in Hindi, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”

As his tweet came during the India-Bharat row, it seems like Big B has just showcased his support in favour of India’s name change.

Soon after Amitabh shared the tweet, several fans lauded the actor for his support.