Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: Reacting over the ‘India vs Bharat’ row, Congress leader Mani Shankar Iyer on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is scared of the Opposition alliance INDIA so the BJP is deliberately changing the name of India to Bharat.
“They are scared of the INDIA alliance. Our Constitution says ‘India, that is Bharat’, ” Mani Shankar Iyer reacted in Bhopal to reporters’ question on Harnath Singh Yadav’s comment.
Earlier, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Harnath Singh Yadav demanded that the word ‘INDIA’ should be removed from the Constitution and only Bharat should be used as the country’s name.
However, Iyer did not react to the reporter’s question on Tamil Nadu Sports Minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments calling for the “eradication of Sanatana Dharma”.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Harnath Singh Yadav said the entire country is demanding that the word ‘Bharat’ should be used 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,” he said.
Earlier Congress and other INDIA alliance partners protested the invitation for the G20 dinner sent in the name of ‘President of Bharat’.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh claimed that 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’.
Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “distorting history and dividing India” and said the objective of parties in the INDIA bloc is also “BHARAT – Bring Harmony, Amity, Reconciliation And Trust.”
“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.” But now even this “Union of States” is under assault,” Ramesh said on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter.
“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. After all, what is the objective of INDIA parties? It is BHARAT—Bring Harmony, Amity, Reconciliation And Trust. Judega BHARAT Jeetega INDIA!” he added.
