Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin remarked against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), adding to the debate that the BJP aims to alter the official name of the country from ‘India’ to ‘Bharat.’ This accusation comes on the heels of a recent controversy surrounding a G20 dinner invitation, where the President of India was addressed as the “President of Bharat.” This development has triggered widespread speculation and raised questions about potential efforts to change the country’s name.
In response to this perceived shift, Stalin took to social media to express his concerns. He pointed out that the opposition bloc had aptly named their alliance #INDIA and accused the BJP of attempting to change this identity. He criticised the BJP’s promise of transforming India, stating that after nine years in power, all they seemed to be doing was changing the country’s name. In a post on a popular micro-blogging site, he remarked, “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! #IndiaStaysIndia.”
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Stalin’s sister, Kanimozhi, who is a Lok Sabha MP representing DMK, also weighed in on the matter. She shared an image of the controversial invite on her social media account and expressed her concerns about the unusual use of “President of Bharat” instead of India.
“In a rather unprecedented move, an official invite from the President of India reads ‘President of Bharat’ instead of India. Makes us wonder what could be the possible politics or intention behind this action,” she said. She questioned the possible political motivations or intentions behind this change.
Kanimozhi went further by referencing reports that the alteration came after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief made comments on the matter. She raised the question of whether this signifies that the RSS, an ideological parent organization of the BJP, is wielding significant influence in running the country, perhaps even more so than the BJP itself.
As this controversy continues to unfold, it raises important questions about the identity and nomenclature of the nation, and how political forces are grappling with these issues in the run-up to elections and amid growing debates about national identity and unity.