Alleging that the invitation for the G20 dinner sent out in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ came against the backdrop of a united opposition bloc, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said that INDIA will chase BJP out of power in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Minister also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is rattled by a single term called ‘India’. Stalin said, “After Non-BJP forces united to dethrone the fascist BJP regime and aptly named their alliance #INDIA, now the BJP wants to change ‘India’ for ‘Bharat.’ BJP promised to TRANSFORM India, but all we got is a name change after 9 years! Seems like the BJP is rattled by a single term called India because they recognize the strength of unity within the opposition.”
“During the elections, ‘India’ will chase BJP out of power!” he added.
Earlier in the day, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh 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’.
The BJP came under heavy criticism from the opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance with senior leaders coming down heavily on the Central government for such a move.
Responding to the development, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at the Centre asking whether they would change the name of the nation to Bharatiya Janata Party if the INDIA bloc gets changed into Bharat.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, Kejriwal said that the BJP-led government is doing so because the Opposition bloc has given itself the name that is –INDIA.
“I do not have any official information regarding it, but got to know through the press. This is being done because INDIA is a coalition of Opposition parties. Will they change the name of the country if someone makes a party with its name? This is a country of 140 cr people. What if the INDIA bloc decides to change its name to Bharat after holding a meeting tomorrow? Will they then change the name of Bharat to BJP?” the Delhi CM said.
Meanwhile, DMK MP Kanimozhi said, “We’ve never seen invitations going out in the name of ‘President of Bharat’, it is always been ‘President of India’ or Prime Minister of India’. Why have they done this now? What is the intention behind it? What is the politics behind it? It has been in the Constitution all these years but nobody used it.”
“Recently, the RSS chief said that the name of India has to be changed. Reading this after that brings up a lot of questions. Is RSS setting the agenda for the entire nation? …We don’t know why the special session of Parliament has been called. We don’t know what the agenda is….” she added.
Earlier in the day, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-led by Mohan Bhagwat wants to change the Constitution of the country by ‘removing’ the word ‘India’ with Bharat.
On September 2, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat during his address in Guwahati said that people should use the name “Bharat” instead of India and urged people to inculcate the habit.
“The name of our country has been Bharat for ages. Whatever may be the language, the name remains the same,” Bhagwat said at a program organised by the Sakal Jain Samaj.
