India that is Bharat: BJP at odds with INDIA over name change for the nation

G-20 invitation calls India “Bharat,” fueling name change rumors.

The BJP's battle with INDIA seems to have hit an all-new turf with the Centre trying to rechristen India as Bharat.

The battle over Bharat is brewing up at a time when Delhi is decked up to host statesmen from 20 nations over the weekend and the country is a few months away from choosing its next leader. The spur erupted when the BJP-led government sent out an invitation to the G20 dignitaries to a state dinner hosted by the "President of Bharat".

The leaders of the Opposition league, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), quipped that the incumbent government at the Centre was rattled by the word 'India' and is trying to refrain from using it.

“Article 1 of the Constitution of India says India that is Bharat. The BJP and the Government of India are so scared of the INDIA bloc that they want to change the name of the nation,” said PDP leader and member of the working group for research of INDIA, Aditya Gupta.

India is ubiquitous, from the RBI and ISRO to the IITs and IIMs, and from the government's flagship schemes like 'Make in India' to 'Digital India', but the BJP-led regime seems to have overlooked it entirely, Gupta said.

"Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, extensively used the slogan 'Shining India'," Gupta questioned, "To what extent the BJP will go to avoid using the English name India?”

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has no objection to calling India Bharat, which is one of the country’s two official names. “I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with 'India', which has incalculable brand value built up over the centuries. We should continue to use both the words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world,” Tharoor wrote on social media, X (formerly twitter).

The BJP government has convened a five-day special session of Parliament from September 18, yet the business agenda remains undisclosed.

Sources, however, said that BJP Members of Parliament plan to table a resolution during the session in favour of emphasising the name Bharat.

Taking a swipe on the BJP government, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said: “We might consider changing the name of our alliance to Bharat in the next meeting. Meanwhile the BJP should now start thinking of a new name for the country.”

Earlier on August 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three Bills in the Lok Sabha aimed at replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) from 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) from 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act from 1872.

These bills - the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Bill, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (BS) Bill, 2023 - are intended to replace the IPC, CrPC, and the Evidence Act, respectively. They have been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for further consideration.

Shah highlighted that a total of 313 changes have been proposed in these three criminal laws, with the primary goal of ensuring that individuals seeking justice through the courts can receive it within a three-year timeframe.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, while commenting on the G20 invitation referring to India as Bharat, said, “India, that is Bharat, is mentioned in the Constitution. I would invite everybody to read it. When you say Bharat, there is a meaning, understanding, and connotation associated with it, and that is reflected in our Constitution as well.”

In response to Jaishankar’s statement, RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha expressed that he had never heard the minister speak about Article 1 of the Constitution stating “India that is Bharat” before July 19. He pointed out that Jaishankar, as a bureaucrat who has worked with various governments, seems to have adopted a different perspective.

“Our INDIA front’s tagline is Judega Bharat, Jeetega India. In the days to come, we might even see an alliance between INDIA and Bharat with an abbreviation. In such a scenario, what will Minister Jaishankar do?" Jha questioned.