‘President of Bharat’? G20 dinner invite adds to talk about India’s name change

Will India be renamed Bharat? That’s the question everyone is asking after President Droupadi Murmu sent out a dinner invite for 9 September using the nomenclature ‘President of Bharat’. This comes in the backdrop of a slew of world leaders and thousands of delegates slated to attend the G20 in the National Capital on Saturday and Sunday. The Modi government has convened a special session of Parliament from 18 to 22 September just days after the G2O Summit concludes. There is no official word on the agenda for the special session and speculation is rife about the moves the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make. Let’s take a closer look: As per NDTV, this is the first occasion that the term ‘President of Bharat’ has been used on an official invite. The traditional nomenclature has been ‘President of India’.

Murmu’s invite was sent to G20 leaders and chief ministers for Saturday.

The term Bharat has also been used in G20 booklets distributed to foreign delegates to point to India’s democratic ethos. The booklet states, “In Bharat that is India, taking the consent of the people in governance has been part of life since earliest recorded history.” “Bharat is the official name of the country,” the booklet adds. Sources told News18 that the Modi government is planning to remove the word India from the Constitution. Mitesh Patel, BJP MP from Anand in Gujarat, speaking in the Lok Sabha in December, queried about renaming India as “Bharat” or “Bharatvarsh” as deliberated by the Constituent Assembly in September 1949.As per CNBC, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav has also called for a constitutional amendment to change “India” to “Bharat”. Patel claimed the name “India” signifies the “slavery that the country was subjected to” as it was given by the British East India Company. As per CNBC, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav has also called for a constitutional amendment to change “India” to “Bharat”. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted:

REPUBLIC OF BHARAT - happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 5, 2023

The BJP national president JP Nadda posted:

कांग्रेस को देश के सम्मान एवं गौरव से जुड़े हर विषय से इतनी आपत्ति क्यों है?

भारत जोड़ो के नाम पर राजनीतिक यात्रा करने वालों को “भारत माता की जय” के उद्घोष से नफरत क्यों है?

स्पष्ट है कि कांग्रेस के मन में न देश के प्रति सम्मान है, न देश के संविधान के प्रति और न ही संवैधानिक…

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) September 5, 2023

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BJP MP Harnath Singh 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…” The Congress has slammed the Centre. Its general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X:

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.”…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 5, 2023

Congress leader Manish Tiwari posted on social media:

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Article 52 - Constitution of India.

There shall be a President of INDIA

Can’t get more explicit than this - Can it ??????? pic.twitter.com/9OoPcLBktW

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) September 5, 2023

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said he hopes the government “will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with India” while there is no constitutional objection to calling India as Bharat. He added that India has “incalculable brand value built up over centuries”. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the BJP. “If an alliance of some parties become India, would they change the name of the country? The country belongs to 140 crore people, not to a party. Let’s assume if the India alliance renames itself as Bharat, would they rename Bharat as BJP then?… What’s this joke?… BJP is thinking that their vote count will decrease so they should change the name of Bharat,” Kejriwal said. The AAP’s Raghav Chaddha said our national identity is “not the BJP’s personal property that it can modify on whims and fancies". Meanwhile, Congress’ Karti Chidambaram asked if everyone would need new passports. With inputs from agencies