India To Be Renamed As Bharat? Congress Slams Centre Over President's G20 Invite

The Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Rashtrapati Bhavan had sent out an invite for a G20 dinner which had 'President of Bharat' inscribed on it.

"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'," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Taking on the centre, the Congress leader said, "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."

The G20 Summit is being held in the national capital from September 9 to 10 under India's presidency and several heads of state from across the world, including US President Joe Biden, are attending the event.

He then accused the Prime Minister of trying to distort history. "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.

He added, "After all, what is the objective of INDIA parties?It is BHARAT-Bring Harmony, Amity, Reconciliation And Trust. Judega BHARAT Jeetega INDIA!"

Meanwhile, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma latest tweet has added fuel to the controversy.

He wrote, "REPUBLIC OF BHARAT - happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL."

As per the reports, the government might bring a proposal to rename India as Bharat in the forthcoming special session of the Parliament.

It may be recalled that BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal had demanded that "India, that is Bharat" be removed from Article 1 of the Constitution and only the word 'Bharat' should be used.

"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," BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav told news agency ANI.