Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the Constitutional adoption of the name India was "borrowed from a colonial legacy".
Sarma, a senior BJP leader, made this comment in a tweet after the Congress attacked him over his remarks on the opposition alliance's acronym - 'INDIA'.
"The Constitutional adoption of the name - India, was borrowed from a Colonial legacy and continues to remain in force like many such legacies. But the civilisational conflict between Bharat and India runs much deeper than a mere choice of names. BHARAT must Win, BHARAT will Win," Sarma said in a Twitter post.
Altogether 26 non-BJP parties held a meeting at Bengaluru on Tuesday and formed a coalition - Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) - to unitedly take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Moments after the announcement, Sarma had said that the British had given the name India to the country and the fight should be to free the nation from "colonial legacies".
Earlier in the day, the Congress hit back at Sarma for criticising the opposition alliance 'INDIA' for choosing a "colonial" name.
The Congress said the Assam CM should tell this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who gave names such as 'Skill India' and 'Start-up India' for government schemes.
"I made one tweet on BHARAT and Congress remembered the huge success of Start Up India, Skill India and Digital India," tweeted Sarma, the Convenor of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the regional arm of the NDA.
-With PTI Input
