In line with the agendas of 'One Nation, One Election' and the Uniform Civil Code, the ruling Modi regime has been beefing up its arbitrary vision of changing the country's name - which has become an unequivocal display of a peak of majoritarianism, that the ruling regime could pursue anything it desires and has become yet another example of an outcome from the government that is rolling up the sleeves to alter the political and constitutional status quo.

After running nine years of contentious government where the democratic values are put in a peril, the ruling Modi regime is up for its next task ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and these policies of changing the electoral pattern and even the name of the country as per the desire of one party have culminated to a nationwide notion that India is being shaped as an autocracy. 

In the midst of a prevailing religious polarization and hate politics that were largely orchestrated by the ruling BJP regime, Modi's fashion of arbitrary governance is preparing to further the divide and sow a despair among the public. When a special Parliamentary session is going to get commenced on September 18, the Modi regime had already packed up its agendas including 'One Nation, One Election' and the Uniform Civil Code to pass them with a clear mandate in the Lok Sabha and with coalition numbers in the Rajya Sabha. 

Now, armed with the majority support, the Modi government is strongly mulling to change the name of the country by adopting a resolution in the special parliament session. Even as the opposition leaders term the 'name change' as yet another shortcoming from the BJP regime, it has been reported that the ruling government is seriously considering to change the name of the country from 'India' to 'Bharat'. Some incidents that are coming to light reveal that the name change is in the offing.

It appears that the name change from India to Bharat has already been inherited by the nation's highest officeholder, the President of India. It is now in the public domain that the President has addressed herself as the 'President of Bharat'. India is just days away from hosting the G20 summit where the leaders from twenty powerful countries would assemble in the country. As the global leaders are preparing to arrive in New Delhi, they will be offered a customary reception by the President of India.

President Droupadi Murmu has sent an invitation to the G20 leaders for a dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 9. Veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to social media and wrote, "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." 

Even the Chief Minister of BJP-ruling Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma has changed his X (formerly Twitter) bio as 'Chief Minister of Assam, BHARAT'. In a tweet, Sarma wrote, "REPUBLIC OF BHARAT - happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL." Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, who is a vocal critic of the state's Dravidian ideology, has also sent out a Teachers' Day greeting, stating, "Let us express our gratitude to our teachers for their pivotal role in building strong and capable Bharath by shaping the calibre and character of our young minds." 

BJP's 'Bharat' aspiration and how the Supreme Court denied to change the name

Changing the name of 'India' as 'Bharat' has been on the BJP's platter for a long time. Everytime when BJP pitches for the name change, it argued with the advocacy of Article 1 in the Indian Constitution. The Clause 1 of Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. It was based on this clause that the BJP supporters are arguing that the term Bharat, referring to India, has been enshrined in the Constitution and that the name India, given by the British, can be changed as Bharat. 

Revisiting the history, when India got independence from British rule, the name of the country was a staunch debate in the constituent assembly. When the British termed the country 'India', the Mughals, who ruled the region before the British, called it Hindustan. After a fiery debate, the Constitution adopted two names for the country, India and Bharat. As the name India has been etched till date, there have been attempts in the past to alter the status quo. 

Those attempts have now culminated to mark the end of India as the Modi regime is considering changing the name as Bharat. The attempt to change the name had some judicial precedences - where the Supreme Court had denied to accent the name change. In 2020, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking removal of India as the name of the country and keeping just Bharat as the solitary identity of the nation. The petitioner, Namah, has sought a directive to amend Article 1 of the Indian Constitution. 

By citing that the Article 1 reads India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States, the petitioner claimed that the name 'India' is a symbol of slavery and that the name has to be changed as 'Bharat'. Hearing the petition, the apex court had in June 2020 strongly refused to entertain such litigation filed for changing the name of India to Bharat. The verdict was pronounced by a bench of then Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy. 

When the Bench asked the petitioner's counsel as to why he had approached the Supreme Court when the Constitution itself says that India is also called Bharat, the counsel argued that the name India was derived from the Greek word 'Indica' and said that the change in name was sought to the exclusion of India. The petitioner has also claimed that this change of name will help the citizens of the country get over the colonial past and instill a sense of pride in their nationality. However, the apex court has denied to encourage the plea and by underlining that Bharat can go to centre as representation, the apex court hasn't given any assertion that the name has to be changed. 

Though the top judicial body has denied such a name change, it has sparked political debates across the country with the BJP-backed Hindutva supporters arguing for Bharat. Such attemtps were happening behind the screens and didn't appear before the spotlight and now, it is appearing before the public domain as the Modi regime has sharply pitched for the name change. By citing that the constitution carries the term Bharat, the opposition leaders question the motive behind the arbitrary move from the Modi regime and have asked why the BJP government has changed the term in the President's invitation as 'President of Bharat' without even bringing the bill for the name change and debating it before the people's house.