Last Updated: September 05, 2023, 22:45 IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PTI/File)
This came on the day when the Opposition criticised the Centre over the G20 dinner invitations that described President Droupadi Murmu’s position as ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the customary ‘President of India’
Amid the row over the use of the word ‘Bharat’ on a G20 dinner invite, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Tuesday shared official information regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia in which he has been referred to as the “Prime Minister of Bharat”. PM Modi will be leaving for Indonesia on Wednesday night to attend the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit.
Soon after Patra’s post on X (formally Twitter), Congress leader Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took a pot shot at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said, “Look at how confused the Modi government is! The Prime Minister of Bharat at the 20th ASEAN-India summit. All this drama just because the Opposition got together and called itself INDIA”
Look at how confused the Modi government is! The Prime Minister of Bharat at the 20th ASEAN-India summit. All this drama just because the Opposition got together and called itself INDIA ♂️ pic.twitter.com/AbT1Ax8wrO
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 5, 2023
This came on the day when the Opposition criticised the Centre over the G20 dinner invitations that described President Droupadi Murmu’s position as ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the customary ‘President of India’. The opposition’s INDIA bloc alleged that the Modi government is planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country’s name.
Senior BJP leaders and ministers have cheered the move by the Rashtrapati Bhavan with Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar asking what is the problem with using “President of Bharat” as the country is also Bharat. The move also further fuelled the speculation that the issue of changing the name of the country could come up during the five-day special session of Parliament beginning September 18.
Opposition leaders, including Ramesh, who first highlighted the development, accused the government of assaulting the idea of the country being a “Union of States”, as mentioned in the Constitution which describes the country as “India, that is Bharat”.
(with inputs from PTI)
