oppn parties India Or Bharat? Why Not Both?

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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India Or Bharat? Why Not Both?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-09-06 06:20:00

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

With President Murmu sending out G20 dinner invites in the name of 'President of Bharat', there is a strong buzz that the Centre is thinking of changing the official name of country to Bharat. Currently, both India & Bharat are used interchangeably, as used in Article 1 of the Constitution which says "India, that is Bharat". The BJP has a long history of changing names. It is particularly averse to having names of Muslim rulers or any name having colonial connotations. So it will not be surprising if it officially changes India's name to Bharat. An indication of this was available recently when the government introduced Bills to replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act. They were all named with Bharat instead of India.

There is no doubt that the name India was given the official seal by the British (although it is said that it comes from river Indus and the Greeks used it first). Before that, it was known by various names as it was never a country as a whole as we understand it now but an amalgamation of different and independent princely states (although it is also said that when Ram-rajya was established, the country was known as Bharatvarsh). The Muslim invaders chose to call it Hindustan as it was inhabited by Hindus. Currently, India is used in English and Bharat is used in Hindi and most regional languages. But the fact remains that when there is a need to address an all-India audience that is comprised mainly of non-English speaking people, everyone, and particularly politicians, use the name Bharat.

Hence, when Rahul Gandhi embarked on his yatra last year, he chose to name it Bharat Jodo Yatra and not India Jodo Yatra. Hence, too, when K Chandrasekhar Rao's political ambitions soared, he renamed his party as Bharat Rashtra Samiti and not India Rashtra Samiti. Also, although the opposition alliance has named itself I.N.D.I.A, the slogan it uses is Judega Bharat, Jeetega India, signifying that although it calls itself INDIA, it wants to unite Bharat. The alliance has charged that the change in name of the country is being done as the BJP is rattled by the acronym I.N.D.I.A.

There is no harm in changing the name to Bharat. But, equally, is there any harm in continuing with the current practice of using both names? Indian postal stamps, for instance, continue to have both the names. That should remain the system.

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