Barely two weeks before Parliament meets for a special session, the agenda of which is still under wraps, a political row erupted on Tuesday over the name of the country after the government sent out a G20 Summit dinner invitation in the name of the ‘President of Bharat’, and not the President of India.

However, this is not the first time the term has been used in an official document.

Also Read: ‘President of Bharat’: G20 dinner invite sparks buzz, Congress sees red

In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa and also visited Greece thereafter. The government notification for his visit to both countries from August 22-25 also referred to him as ‘Prime Minister of Bharat’.

Furthermore, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Indonesia for the 20th Asean India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit (EAS) on September 6-7. A day ahead of his visit, the function notes of his visit referred to him as ‘Prime Minister of Bharat’.

This comes against the backdrop of President Droupadi Murmu’s G20 dinner invitations that were in the name of “President of Bharat”, triggering a row and fuelling speculation of the government’s plans to rename India in the upcoming special session of Parliament.

Also Read: What will BJP do if INDIA alliance renames itself as Bharat, asks Arvind Kejriwal

Rejecting as “rumours” the speculation, especially in the Opposition camp, that the special session of the House had been called to effect a name change from India to Bharat, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arunag Thakur told The Indian Express, “I think these are just rumours which are taking place. All I want to say is that anyone who objects to the word Bharat clearly shows the mindset.”

On the President’s dinner invitation, Thakur said the President is “Bharat ke Rashtrapati… toh unhone likh diya (so she wrote) President of Bharat. So what?”

Notably, Article 1 of the Indian Constitution reads: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”

Also Read: What suddenly happened that India needs to be called only Bharat, asks Mamata Banerjee

The Constitution of India currently refers to the country as “India, that is Bharat”. However, there have been growing calls to amend this to simply “Bharat”.

With a special session of Parliament set to begin on September 18, there is speculation that an amendment to the Constitution may be introduced to effect this change.