Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was the first to change his Twitter bio to Bharat after the opposition alliance chose INDIA as their name, stated that there is no debate between India and Bharat because they are the same, and that Indira Gandhi took the oath as ‘Bharat ka Pradhan Mantri’, not as the Prime Minister of India. “Recently, Amit Shah placed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in Parliament. Then no one objected. Bharat and India are interchangeable, as determined by the Supreme Court in 2016,” Himanta explained.
“If I recall accurately, when Manmohan Singh ji took the oath, he did so as Bharat’s Prime Minister. As far as I can recall, Deve Gowda ji took the oath as the Prime Minister of India. I attempted to locate it on Google but was unsuccessful. According to my recollection, Indira Gandhi also took the oath as Bharat ka Pradhan Mantri, not as India’s prime minister. Therefore, there is no debate,” Himanta stated.
#WATCH | Guwahati: On Bharat name row, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says, "India and Bharat is not a debatable thing…India and Bharat are interchangeable that is the decision of the Supreme Court in 2016…Be it Manmohan Singh or Indira Gandhi everyone took oath as… pic.twitter.com/fxljKKDGLN
— ANI (@ANI) September 6, 2023
Himanta however proposed substituting Bharat for India in Reserve Bank of India. “The name of the central bank should be ‘Reserve Bank of Bharat’.” This is a renaissance period. Assam has altered several ancient legacies, and there have also been numerous changes at the national level, Sarma stated.
Himanta slams Shashi Tharoor’s Jinnah comparison, calls it half-truth
In the midst of the controversy, Congress member Shashi Tharoor implied that the BJP government continues to support Jinnah’s position, whether regarding the CAA or the country’s name. “While we’re on the subject, let’s recall that Jinnah objected to the appellation ‘India’ because it implied that our country was the successor state to the British Raj and Pakistan was a seceding state. As with the CAA, the BJP government continues to support Jinnah’s view!” Shashi Tharoor sent a tweet.
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What Tharoor said was only partially true. What Jinnah stated is irrelevant. What is essential to us is the name used by sages and saints, which was not India but Bharat,” said Himanta.
While the subject is live, let’s recall that it was Jinnah who objected to the name ‘India’ since it implied that our country was the successor state to the BritishRaj and Pakistan a seceding state. As with CAA, the BJP govt keeps supporting Jinnah’s view! https://t.co/Tfm7SucJAn
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 5, 2023