"BJP frightened by INDIA...":Mallikarjun Kharge amid ‘India vs Bharat’ row
Sep 06, 2023
Bhilwara (Rajasthan) [India], September 6 : After Rashtrapati Bhawan issued an invitation for a G20 dinner scheduled for September 9 in the name of 'President of Bharat' instead of India, has caused quite a stir, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are frightened by INDIA.
"...They (BJP) are frightened by INDIA. Now they are changing the name (of the country) to 'Bharat'. It is written in the Constitution," Kharge said at the Farmer's conference in Rajasthan.
He further said, "India means Bharat. We were already saying 'Bharat Jodo'. We had spread the Bharat Jodo message to 4000 km. But you (BJP) are trying to bring something or the other..."
Notably, this is the first time that the government has used the 'Republic of Bharat' instead of India on an official invitation.
A government booklet on PM Modi’s upcoming visit to Indonesia for the ASEAN-India Summit also refers to him as the Prime Minister of Bharat.
The move, however, has stirred a huge controversy as leaders from Congress and other parties have strongly opposed it, while the ruling dispensation has welcomed the decision. The leaders of the INDIA bloc have claimed that the BJP is nervous about the popularity being garnered by the Opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Article 1 of the Indian Constitution states "Name and territory of the Union.—(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."
