New Delhi: A political storm has erupted after President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday sent out an official dinner invite to G20 Heads of States, ministers and other Indian officials, under the name “President of Bharat” instead of the usual “President of India”.
The invite for a dinner she is hosting on 9 September, is the first time an official invite says “President of Bharat”, a name which is part of the Constitution.
This shift from “India” to “Bharat” is significant. As per the Indian Constitution, Article 52 declares: “There shall be a President of India” while Article 1 has the word “Bharat” in its first line – “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”
The President’s invitation, which ThePrint has accessed, did not mention the word “India” at all.
Interestingly, the name “Bharat” has also been used in a G20 booklet titled “Bharat, The Mother Of Democracy”, to highlight the country’s democratic ethos.
Many view this change as a means to avoid confusion with the Opposition alliance “INDIA”.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is a coalition of 28 Opposition parties, which aims to mount a challenge to the BJP in the 2024 general elections.
ThePrint reached out to the President’s House, which did not respond. ThePrint has also reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs and did not receive a response at the time this report was published.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders have severely criticised this move. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh stated on X that “the Union of States is under assault.”
“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,” Ramesh posted.
“But we will not be deterred. After all, what is the objective of INDIA parties? It is BHARAT — Bring Harmony, Amity, Reconciliation And Trust,” he said.
In the BJP’s corner, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was the first to laud the change on the official invite. “REPUBLIC OF BHARAT — happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL.”
Replying to Ramesh’s post, he said: “Now my apprehension has proven to be true. The Congress party seems to have a strong aversion towards Bharat.”
He said the Opposition’s new name INDIA was “intentionally chosen with the aim of defeating BHARAT”.
As the war or words intensified, the Opposition’s Mamata Banerjee weighed in, saying history was being rewritten in the country.
The Trinamool Congress chief said: “We all know India is Bharat, but the world knows us as India… What has suddenly changed that we should use only Bharat?”
Congress senior leader Gaurav Gogoi said: “We accept both ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ names and feel proud of them. The ‘I’ in ISRO is India, the ‘I’ in IITs is India, the ‘I’ in IIMs is India, the ‘I’ in IPS is India. The BJP’s politics has stooped this low because they are afraid of the INDIA alliance.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal wondered if the BJP would change the name “Bharat” to something else if the Opposition INDIA alliance renamed itself “Bharat”.
On the other hand, BJP leaders and ministers vehemently defended the move, with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan saying it should have happened earlier. The President has given priority to “Bharat”, he said, lauding it as the “biggest statement to come out of the colonial mindset”.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar did not see any problem in using the name “Bharat”, but deflected questions on whether the name change would be discussed in the Parliament’s special session called from 18-22 September.
Just days ago, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said “Bharat” should be used instead of “India” and urged people to make it a habit.
He said the name has been prevalent since ancient times and must be taken forward. “The name of our country has been ‘Bharat’ since ages. Whatever may be the language, the name remains the same,” Bhagwat said while speaking at a programme in Guwahati.
“Our country is ‘Bharat’ and we will have to stop using the word ‘India’ and start using Bharat in all practical fields, only then will change happen. We will have to call our country ‘Bharat’ and explain it to others as well,” the RSS chief said.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that an initiative has been taken to adopt pre-colonial names.
Earlier this year, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi in a Raj Bhavan invite referred to himself as the “Governor of Tamizhagam”. He quickly climbed down after a backlash.
Several state ministers have also changed their titles on social media to reflect this move towards calling the country “Bharat”. In the forefront is the Assam chief minister who changed his X bio to “Chief Minister of Assam, BHARAT”.
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