Shashi Tharoor coins new acronym ‘BHARAT’ for opposition bloc

Check out what Tharoor’s BHARAT stands for

Shashi Tharoor | Twitter Shashi Tharoor | Twitter

Amid a raging controversy over the central government’s rumoured plan to change country’s official name from ‘India’ to ‘Bharat’, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday came up with an acronym ‘BHARAT’ for the opposition alliance. 

Leaders of the anti-BJP bloc are alleging that the government’s plan to use ‘Bharat’ in official records came against the backdrop of the formation of the ‘INDIA’ alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Tharoor suggested the name BHARAT or Alliance for Betterment, Harmony And Responsible Advancement for Tomorrow for the opposition bloc.

“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,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote on X.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday asked what would happen if opposition creates an acronym named 'Bharat'? 

“The intention behind changing it to 'Bharat' is questionable. Opposition parties and secular forces have come together with the name of INDIA...They (BJP) are so agitated with INDIA that they have started using 'Bharat'. What if the opposition creates an abbreviation named 'Bharat'?..." Yechury was quoted as saying by ANI.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also asked whether the BJP would change the name of Bharat if the opposition alliance INDIA rechristens itself as "Bharat".

The controversy erupted after the G20 dinner invitations sent out by the Rashtrapati Bhawan described President Droupadi Murmu as the 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary usage of ‘President of India’.

The opposition parties, at their Bengaluru meeting, had named their alliance as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

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