PM Modi reacts to India-Bharat row; asks Council of Ministers to refrain from the debate

After days of debate over India vs Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his ministers to stay away from commenting on the issue. Sources quoted him saying ‘do not comment’ at a meeting of the Council of Ministers where G20 and other issues were discussed.

The PM held the meeting with all his ministers ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit scheduled to be held in Delhi on September 9 and 10.

For the past two days, the renaming of India as Bharat has triggered a political row in the country.

The controversy erupted after a G20 official dinner invite sent out by President Droupadi Murmu referred to her as the ‘President of Bharat’ instead of ‘President of India’. Soon, it was speculated that renaming the country was part of the agenda of the upcoming Special Session of Parliament.

Political row over possible renaming of India

On Wednesday morning, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to PM Modi, suggesting a list of nine subjects that can be discussed at the Special Session of Parliament, set to begin on September 18.

The government has reacted sternly, suggesting that Gandhi does not pay attention to tradition, under which the agenda need not be discussed before the session begins.

Watch |Indian PM Modi reacts to 'India-Bharat' row

"After the calling of the session by the President and before the commencement of the session, there is a meeting of the leaders of all the parties in which the people rising in the Parliament are discussed. Issues and work are discussed”, wrote Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Anurag Thakur has called the renaming of India as Bharat a “rumour”, while attacking the “mindset” of the Opposition for opposing the name ‘Bharat’.

The Opposition has accused the ruling party of deflecting people’s focus from real issues like unemployment, poverty and price rise. The issue is also the fallout of the Opposition Front calling itself INDIA, they said.

Amid all this, India is set to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi. The summit will be hosted at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Notably, India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organised in 60 cities across the country.

(With inputs from agencies)

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