The dinner invitations sent out by the Rashtrapati Bhawan describing President Droupadi Murmu as 'President of Bharat' has triggered a political slugfest with the Opposition bloc INDIA lashing out at the government for the "name change".
The leaders are mincing no words in attacking the Centre, stating that the Modi government was terrified of the INDIA bloc, the reason for the sudden name change.
The Congress said the government was "confused" as it was referring to Narendra Modi as "the Prime Minister of Bharat at the 20th ASEAN-India summit".
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Look at how confused the Modi government is! The Prime Minister of Bharat at the 20th ASEAN-India summit." "All this drama just because the Opposition got together and called itself INDIA," he said, referring to the document shared by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, which showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia as the "Prime Minister of Bharat".
AAP, a member of the bloc, too attacked the BJP, calling it "flustered." "I have no official information on this. I have heard rumours. Why is this happening? It is being said that this is being done because we have formed an alliance named INDIA. The country belongs to 140 crore people and not to one party. If the INDIA alliance rechristens itself as Bharat, will they change the name of Bharat also?" AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked while replying to a question at a press conference here.
Another alliance partner RJD has hit out against the purported move. "Modi ji is so scared. I wonder what will he do to so many of his own initiatives like Make in India and Start Up India and numerous schemes. If he embarks on an exercise to rename every institution that bears the name India, it will cost the exchequer an amount equivalent to the GDP of a state," said RJD leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.
Meanwhile, after the huddle by the INDIA alliance held late on Tuesday, it has been decided that all 24 parties of the INDIA bloc will participate in the special Parliament session to be held from September 18. Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi will be writing to PM Modi on behalf of these parties, reported ANI.
Floor leaders of the alliance partners from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha took part in the meeting that began at 8 p.m. at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and lasted for around one-and-a-half hours.
The meeting, which took place amid intense speculation over what is the agenda of the five-day special session of Parliament, ended with a consensus on the need to demand from the government clarity on what are its plans for the session.