New Delhi: The political storm over the government's move to rename India as Bharat is getting fiercer by the day. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has advised the Centre to desist from any move to do away with the word India as it has an 'incalculable brand value'. Tharoor further made an indirect barb at the BJP, saying that it was Pakistan's founder Jinnah who had objected to the name India.
Elaborating on the controversy, the Congress leader said there has been no constitutional objection to calling the country 'Bharat' but said that the government will not be so "foolish" to completely dispense with the word 'India' which has "incalculable brand value". The controversy over the renaming of the country picked up heat and dust after the the G20 dinner invites were sent out in the name of the 'President of Bharat' contrary to the earlier custom of the 'President of India'.
Tharoor further said that during partition, Mohammad Ali Jinnah had objected to the name 'India' since it implied that India was 'the successor state to the British Raj and Pakistan a seceding state'. The Congress MP in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said: "Bharat is one of the country's two official names. "While there is no constitutional objection to calling India 'Bharat', which is one of the country's two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with 'India', which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries."
The Thiruvananthampuram MP said that once again, the BJP was supporting Jinnah's viewpoint just like it had done with regard to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In the past, Tharoor had commented that implementing CAA was like fulfilling the Pakistan founder's two nation theory. The Congress leader said, "We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world."
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