Rahul Gandhi reacts to India-Bharat name row: ‘Absurd, panic reaction'

The India-Bharat name row is a panic reaction and shows the fear of the government, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said reacting to a question at a press meet in Brussels. "I am perfectly happy with the name in the constitution -- India that is Bharat. This works perfectly well for me. These to me in a sense are panic reactions. There is a little bit of fear in the government. These are distraction tactics. We of course came up with the name INDIA for our coalition and it's a fantastic idea. This represents who we are. We consider ourselves to be the voice of India. So the name works very well," Rahul Gandhi said.

"But it surely disturbed the prime minister enough that he wants to change the name of the country which is absurd. But that's what it is," Rahul Gandhi said.

PM Modi comes up with some 'dramatic, new' diversion tactic every time the opposition raises the issue of Adani, crony capitalism, Rahul Gandhi said. "It's curious that just after I did a press conference on Mr Adani, this entire diversion is taking place. It's interesting," Rahul Gandhi said.

The row started after a G20 invite mentioned President Droupadi Murmu as the President of Bharat instead of India. In a document on PM Modi's Indonesia visit too, Bharat was mentioned instead of India as Narendra Modi was referred to as the prime minister of Bharat, not India.

The Bharat versus India is only in speculation as there has been no indication from the government side that there will be a change in the name. PM Modi too asked ministers to exercise restraint on the ongoing debate. As the government has called a special Parliament session from September 18 to 22, it is speculated that there could be a move to rename India as Bharat. BJP leaders have advocated the idea while the opposition wondered whether the name change was prompted by the choice of the name of the opposition alliance INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).