Sources say the ruling BJP government may put forward a resolution to change the country’s name from ‘India to ‘Bharat‘ later this month in the five-day special session of parliament that starts on September 18.
‘Bharat‘ has also been used in a G20 booklet meant for foreign delegates entitled ‘Bharat, The Mother Of Democracy.’ ‘Bharat is the official name of the country. It is mentioned in the Constitution as also in the discussions of 1946-48,’ the booklet says.
The name ‘Bharat’ is a Sanskrit term found in scriptures written about 2,000 years ago. It refers to an ambiguous territory, Bharatavarsa, which stretched beyond today’s borders of India and may have extended to include present-day Indonesia.
BJP leaders welcomed the nomenclature and accused the Opposition of being anti-national and anti-constitutional. They said the term is also in Article 1 of the Constitution, which says: ‘India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.’
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra last night also shared a document on the PM’s visit to Indonesia that referred to him as the ‘Prime Minister of Bharat.’ The identity cards of Indian officials at the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 will also now say ‘Bharat – Official’.
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