Both India and Bharat are used officially in the nation of 1.4 billion people, which has more than 20 official languages. “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States,” the country’s constitution states. Bharat is also the Hindi word for India and is used interchangeably – both feature on Indian passports for example. “The word ‘India’ is an abuse given to us by the British, whereas the word ‘Bharat’ is a symbol of our culture,” Harnath Singh Yadav, a BJP politician, told Indian broadcaster ANI. Some opposition politicians said the government’s use of Bharat was a response to the formation of the INDIA alliance.

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Persons: Bharat, ”, Droupadi Murmu, Narendra Modi, Modi, –, ’, ” Harnath Singh Yadav, Virender Sehwag, Bharat ’, Bharat ”, ” Shashi Tharoor, “, it’s, Raghav Chadha, Jaishankar Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Indian, of States, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Cricket, Developmental, INDIA, Aam Aadmi Locations: New Delhi, India, Delhi, Britain, British, Kingsway, Nicobar, INDIA