Removing India is unconstitutional, Mamata Banerjee signs off with 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'

In tandem with the ‘Bharat vs. India’ row, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that India is called Bharat in Hindi and Bengali, and they call it Bharat too. However, completely removing India is not correct. 

“The Constitution of India begins with ‘we the people of India.’ Without making any amendments to the Constitution, they cannot start using the name Bharat, that is unconstitutional”, said Banerjee at a press conference on Monday. Expressing her displeasure over the change in nomenclature by the BJP Government, Banerjee stated that this change is ‘unnecessary’. “Even we say Bharat, I have no problem with it, however, absolutely removing the name India is unnecessary. Our passports say ‘Republic of India’, and even Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution which is instrumental in running the country also says ‘We the people of India.’ Given the situation, what is the point of such changes in the name?” she added. 

Previously, a dinner invitation sent out to the leaders and the foreign delegates of the Delhi Chapter of the G20 summit by the President of ‘Bharat’ as opposed to the President of ‘India’ sparked a massive controversy over the sudden change in nomenclature of the country. 

Banerjee stated that naming the Opposition Bloc ‘INDIA’ is the reason why the ruling BJP Government is trying to change the name of the country. “In connection to this, even I can say that you have extensively used the lotus emblem across the festivities of the G20 summit. You should not have done this because it is the symbol BJP. The lotus is also our national flower, so, I say these things need debate and deliberation and need to be thought out carefully. You cannot change the name of a country at whim.”