India to be renamed Bharat?

The Indian government is reportedly considering changing the country’s official name to ‘Bharat’ during a special session of Parliament, according to Indian media reports.

According to media reports, The speculation about this was fuelled amid reports that Rashtrapati Bhawan (President House) has sent an invite for a G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of “President of Bharat” instead of the usual “President of India”.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote, “Republic of Bharat – happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards Amrit Kaal.”

REPUBLIC OF BHARAT – happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 5, 2023

Team India nahin #TeamBharat.
This World Cup as we cheer for Kohli , Rohit , Bumrah, Jaddu , may we have Bharat in our hearts and the players wear jersey which has “Bharat” @JayShah . https://t.co/LWQjjTB98Z

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 5, 2023

Mohan Bhagwat, the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), also supported this change. In the past, Bhagwat had encouraged people to refer to the nation as “Bharat” instead of “India,” stating that historically the country was called “Bharat” for many centuries.

It may be noted that Indian Prime Minister Modi has echoed similar sentiments as well.