‘We Could Call Ourselves BHARAT Bloc’ Shashi Tharoor Amid India-Bharat Row

Amid the India-Bharat row, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday proposed an interesting solution to the problem hinting that the government might be trying to bring a fresh resolution renaming the name of the country because of the name of the opposition bloc i.e., I.N.D.I.A.

In a post on ‘X’ platform, Tharoor said, “We could of course call ourselves the Alliance for Betterment, Harmony And Responsible Advancement for Tomorrow (BHARAT). Then perhaps the ruling party might stop this fatuous game of changing names.”

Through this post, he is, in a way, suggesting that the central government might have a problem with the opposition bloc name I.N.D.I.A. and that the entire debate on the India-Bharat row would be over.

Earlier today, he posted a screenshot of a news item recalling how the Narendra Modi-led government, in 2015, told the Supreme Court that the country does not need to be called Bharat instead of India.

Notably, a PIL was filed in the apex court seeking the Republic be called Bharat for official and unofficial purposes by the union and state government. However, the central government claimed, “There is no need in circumstances to consider any change in Article 1 of the Constitution of India. Article 1.1 - the sole provision in the Constitution on how the country’s name for official and unofficial purposes states, ‘India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”