New Delhi: The five-day special session of the Parliament is about to start from September 18 and there are high expectations regarding the possibility of any major decision from the government. After UCC and ‘One-Nation, One Election’, another speculation is underway, which is towards an official change in the name of our country from ‘India’ to ‘Bharat’ through a constitutional amendment under Article 368.
The demand to change the name of the country from India to Bharat has been raised many times and people like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat have also supported this idea.
In Article 1 of the Indian Constitution, our country has been mentioned in such a way that ‘India i.e. Bharat’ is a ‘Union of States’. The name was decided by the Constituent Assembly after much debate as some members wanted the name India and some wanted to keep it Bharat.
The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced several times that it is inclined towards the name ‘Bharat’. During his Independence Day speech in 2022, PM Modi asked citizens to take certain pledges, including eliminating the scars of slavery. The change in name from India to Bharat can serve as a symbolic gesture towards adopting the cultural identity of our country.
The rumors of hope were confirmed by two incidents – one is Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent post on Moving forward towards immortality.
Secondly, the official dinner invitation extended to the G20 delegation from Rashtrapati Bhavan refers to the President as ‘President of India’ instead of ‘President of India’. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, reacting to the change in the dinner invitation, said that the news of the name change seems to be true.
Jairam Ramesh said, “So this news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhavan has sent invitations for the G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the usual ‘President of India’. Now, Article 1 in the Constitution may read: “India, being India, shall be a Union of States.” But now this “Union of States” is also under attack.
The demand to change the name of the country from India to Bharat has been raised many times and people like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat have also supported this idea. The move is likely to be termed as yet another attempt to move away from the colonial legacy.
Notably, this change may come at a time when the 28-member opposition faction that is planning to contest the Lok Sabha 2024 elections together has named itself Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). This development may lead to fresh hostility between the government and the opposition.
(with agency inputs)