India or Bharat? Centre expected to bring resolution in Parliament to rename country

Will India be now called Bharat? The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre is expected to bring a resolution on the possible renaming of the country during special Parliament session later this month.

Changing of India's name to Bharat has been long-standing demand of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In December 2022, BJP MP from Gujarat's Anand, Mitesh Patel raised a question in the Lok Sabha about renaming India and 'Bharat' or 'Bharatvarsh' as deliberated by the Constituent Assembly in September 1949.

Patel also claimed that “India” signifies the “slavery that the country was subjected to”, as the name was given by the British East India Company.

Earlier on Tuesday, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav said: "Oxford dictionary describes 'India' as poor, uneducated people. The British deliberately linked people of 'slave' countries with the word 'Ind' or 'India'. With all due respect towards the makers of our Constitution, I want to say that they committed a mistake by keeping both 'India' and 'Bharat' words in the Constitution."

More from India

"With all due respect towards the makers of our Constitution, I want to say that they committed a mistake by keeping both 'India' and 'Bharat' words in the Constitution," says BJP Yadav added.

Congress not happy with Bharat

Opposition Congress did not seemed convinced with the idea of renaming India and hit back at the Central government Tuesday after the Rashtrapati Bhawan sent out invitation for a G20 dinner, scheduled for 9 September, in the name of 'President of Bharat' instead of the usual President of India.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “So the news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the usual ‘President of India’."

BJP slams Congress

Defending the use of Bharat, senior BJP leader JP Nadda asked why does the Congress party have “so much objection to every subject related to the honour and pride of the country?"

“Why do political yatras in the name of Bharat Jodo hate the proclamation of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai?’ It is clear that the Congress has neither respect for the country, nor for the constitution of the country, nor for the constitutional institutions. He just means to praise a particular family. The whole country knows very well the anti-national and anti-constitutional intentions of the Congress," Nadda said.

"The word 'Bharat' is not new, it has been in the DNA of all Indians since the yore," said BJP leader Tarun Chugh.

With inputs from agencies