‘Please read Constitution: Jaishankar’s dig at Opposition furore amid India vs Bharat controversy

Union Minister Jaishankar on Wednesday took a dig at the Opposition for its uproar over the speculations that the Central government will propose renaming India to ‘Bharat’, saying ‘India, that is Bharat’ is mentioned in the Constitution. Jaishankar also asked the Opposition leaders to read the Constitution. The speculation erupted after Rashtrapati Bhawan invitations for a G20 dinner on September 9 on behalf of the ‘President of Bharat’ and the customary ‘President of India’.

Hours later, a bulletin issued by the government for the prime minister’s visit to Indonesia for the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit (EAS) referred to Narendra Modi as ‘Prime Minister of Bharat’.

In an interview with ANI, EAM Jaishankar said, “India, that is Bharat, it is there in the Constitution. Please, I would invite everybody to read it.

“Look when you say Bharat in a sense, a meaning and understanding and a connotation that comes with it and that is reflected in our Constitution as well,” Jaishankar said.

Opposition parties have alleged that the government was resorting to “drama” just because they got together and called their bloc INDIA. Some even suggested that in the next Opposition meeting, they would consider renaming the bloc to ‘Bharat’. BJP leaders have strongly supported the move by the government.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan posted on ‘X’ a picture of the dinner invite to him from the President and wrote a few lines from the national anthem.

“This should have happened earlier. This gives great satisfaction to the mind. ‘Bharat’ is our introduction. We are proud of it. The President has given priority to ‘Bharat’. This is the biggest statement to come out of the colonial mindset,” the minister told ANI.

When the invite went viral, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the ‘Union of States’ is under assault. “So the news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on September 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.,” Jairam Ramesh said in a post on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter.

(With agency inputs)

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Updated: 06 Sep 2023, 12:38 PM IST