Congress averse to the name ‘Bharat’: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma


Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Tuesday, criticised the Congress party for what he alleged was a strong aversion towards the name “Bharat”.

In his tweet, Sarma expressed his belief that the Opposition bloc INDIA deliberately chose its name with the intention of opposing the concept of “Bharat”.

He said, “Now my apprehension has proven to be true. The Congress party seems to have a strong aversion towards Bharat. It appears that the name ‘I.N.D.I alliance’ was intentionally chosen with the aim of defeating BHARAT.”

This tweet by Assam CM Sarma triggered fresh discussions and debates, particularly in light of speculations about the government planning to introduce a Bill to officially rename India as ‘Bharat’.

Notably, this development came just before the special Parliament session scheduled from September 18th to 22nd.

In another post on the same micro-blogging platform ‘X’, Sarma expressed his pride in the idea of a “REPUBLIC OF BHARAT”, emphasising the bold progress of their civilisation towards an era known as “AMRIT KAAL”.

These social media updates by Sarma fueled speculation and added momentum to the ongoing debate concerning the potential renaming of India as ‘Bharat.’

The Congress also joined the discussion, criticising the government for recent developments. They highlighted that the Rashtrapati Bhawan had issued an invitation for a G20 dinner on September 9th, addressing it to the “President of Bharat” instead of the customary “President of India.”

This change in nomenclature added a new dimension to the evolving discourse surrounding India’s official name.

In response to this change,  senior congress leader Jairam Ramesh commented, “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.”