India vs Bharat row in Parliament? Centre might spark country renaming debate during Special Session

The Special Session of the Parliament is expected to hold several new agendas of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the Opposition fears that one of the primary issues will be the renaming of the country from India to Bharat.

The Opposition alliance INDIA had raised up a ruckus that the BJP-led government is planning to rename the country from India to Bharat after the G20 invite header sent out from President Droupadi Murmu’s office sparked a political row, being labeled ‘President of Bharat’.

The India vs Bharat row remained the centre of debate ahead of the G20 Summit, while BJP and the NDA alliance refrained from discussing this issue in the media, as instructed by PM Modi in a high-level meeting.

However, the Opposition has alleged that the mention of the name ‘Bharat’ repeatedly in the G20 Summit is a ploy by the Centre to move a resolution in the Special Session of the Parliament on September 18 to rename India as Bharat.

While the Centre has not made any formal comments about renaming India as Bharat till now, the INDIA alliance remains confident that the India vs Bharat debate will be sparked in the Parliament today.

After Congress attacked BJP and Centre for the ‘President of Bharat’ G20 invites, many Bhartiya Janta Party leaders came out in support of the move, paving way for rumours that the renaming of the country is one of the issues that can be raised during the Special Parliament session.

BJP leaders also said that both the names of the country – India and Bharat – are legitimate under Article 1 of the Constitution of the country, which states, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”

The Special Session of the Parliament is set to commence on September 18 and will proceed till September 22, with Centre to raise several issues and agendas.

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