India and Bharat: A tale of national co-existence

Don't let the tyranny of either-or disturb what the Constitution laid down. What's Bharat in some languages is India in others. Usage contexts may differ but both are valid names

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An invitation from the President’s office to G20 leaders for a dinner that describes Droupadi Murmu as the “President of Bharat"—rather than of “India"—has sparked off a war of words between the ruling party and the opposition, with the latter spying in it a trial balloon to rename the country. To be sure, “Bharat" has been used in other official missives as well, even from the Prime Minister. But today’s air of politics as general elections loom means political plots are seen to thicken easily. So intrigue over the agenda of a special session of Parliament called by the government, first thought to be about a single cycle for central and state polls, made space for speculation over a proposal to replace ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ (at the UN, for example). While no such move is in evidence so far, the rhetoric of politicians has echoed the nominal split of the expected electoral face-off: the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA versus the so-called INDIA alliance looking to oust it from power. It is almost as if spin doctors on both sides want the are