During the G20 Summit’s opening speech in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the Bharat Mandapam. What’s interesting is that the nameplate in front of him had the name ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India.’
This comes after a recent controversy over changing the name from “Bharat” to “India” in the dinner invitations sent by President Droupadi Murmu to foreign leaders attending the G20 Summit.
The United Nations has also said that it will update its records to use “Bharat” for India once New Delhi completes the necessary formalities.
This debate has come up just before an upcoming special parliamentary session, although the agenda hasn’t been revealed yet. There are rumors that the name change might be discussed and approved during this session.
While some members of the ruling BJP have suggested giving more importance to the name “Bharat” over “India,” opposition leaders have called it a distraction and pointed out that “Bharat” is already mentioned in the constitution.