Taking strong exception to the invitation for the G20 dinner sent in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ and not India, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said that the recent move by the Centre has ignited a public debate and that people’s national identity is not the BJP’s personal property that it can modify on whims and fancies.
Taking to the social media platform, X, the Aam Aadmi Party senior leader said, “The BJP’s recent move to change the reference from ‘President of India’ to ‘President of Bharat’ on official G20 summit invitations has raised eyebrows and ignited a public debate. How can the BJP strike down ‘INDIA’? The country doesn’t belong to a political party; it belongs to 135 crore Indians.”
“Our national identity is not the BJP’s personal property that it can modify on whims and fancies,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh also 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.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also lashed out at Congress and said that the country was Bharat and will always remain Bharat.
“They have a problem with everything and I do not want to say anything for them. I am a ‘Bharatwaasi’, the name of my country was ‘Bharat’ and will remain ‘Bharat’ always. If Congress has a problem with this, they should find a cure for it themselves,” the Union Minister said while speaking to ANI.
Apart from it, 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. (ANI)
