New Delhi: After almost two days of massive “Bharat-India” political row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his ministers to stay away from commenting on the issue. “Do not comment,” sources quoted him as saying at a meeting of the Council of ministers where G20 and other issues were discussed.
This is the first time PM Modi is learnt to have discussed the subject with his ministers. Over the last two days, the opposition has held two meetings to chalk out a gameplan over the issue. On September 6, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wrote to PM Modi, suggesting a list of nine subjects that can be discussed at the special session of parliament beginning on September 18.
The government has reacted sharply, suggesting that Gandhi does not pay attention to tradition, under which the agenda need not be discussed before the session begins. “After the calling of the session by the President and before 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.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said.
Since September 4, when it was headlined that President Droupadi Murmu’s invite to G20 leaders describes her as the “President of Bharat”, the Opposition and the BJP had clashed. The next day, a document surfaced that saw PM Modi being described as a “Prime Minister of Bharat”. The Opposition has accused the ruling party of creating a smoke screen to deflect attention from the lacunae in their governance that has triggered unemployment, poverty and price rise. The issue is also a fallout of the Opposition Front calling itself INDIA, they said.
Minister dismisses claims of renaming India as rumor
Amid the speculations that the Indian government might rename India to ‘Bharat’, Union Minister Anurag Thakur has dismissed the claims as mere rumors.
Thakur was quoted as saying by The Indian Express that these were just rumors but this clearly shows “their mindset towards the name ‘Bharat’ and how they are against ‘Bharat’.”
“I think these are just rumors which are taking place. All I want to say is that anyone who objects to the word Bharat clearly shows the mindset,” he added.
