Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday launched a scathing attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at Centre alleging that the saffron party and its ideological ally Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) “hate” the Dalits of the country. The sharp remarks came in context of a purported debate around a speculation that a bill may be tabled in the special session of Parliament to remove the word ‘India’ from the Constitution and replace it with ‘Bharat’.
“BJP and RSS hate Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and the Dalits of this country. They have a disgust (against Ambedkar and Dalits) in their minds,” Singh told PTI, highlighting Article 1 of the Constitution which mentions both, India and Bharat.
“I want to ask (Mohan) Bhagwat Ji, why do you hate Bhimrao Ambedkar? Why do you hate Babaaheb so much Modi ji? Why do you hate the Dalits? I want to warn BJP and RSS not to play with the Constitution of India,” he added.
Some media reports, citing unknown sources, said that the government is likely to pass a resolution to remove the word ‘India’ from the Indian Constitution.
While there is no official statement from the government on any such bill, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav called for replacing the word ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ while speaking to the media. "The entire country is demanding that we should use the word 'Bharat' instead of 'India'...The word 'India' is an abuse given to us by the British whereas the word 'Bharat' is a symbol of our culture...I want there should be a change in our Constitution and the word 'Bharat' should be added to it," he told news agency ANI.
Controversies around ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ have been brewing since the united Opposition alliance named their bloc as INDIA.
In a related development, Congress also slammed the Centre over G20 dinner invites sent in the name of "President of Bharat” instead of President of India.
“So the news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on Sept 9th in the name of 'President of Bharat' instead of the usual 'President of India'. Now, Article 1 in the Constitution can read: “Bharat, that was India, shall be a Union of States.” But now even this “Union of States” is under assault,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X (formerly Twitter).
