After a G20 invite to the attending foreign dignitaries was sent out in the name of 'President of Bharat', a note on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia refers to him as 'Prime Minister of Bharat'.
An image of the function notes for Modi's visit to Indonesia on September 6 and 7 for the ASEAN summit was shared by BJP leader Sambit Patra.
The G20 invite sparked a debate on the country's name.
It was some opposition leaders, including Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who first highlighted the development and accused the government of assaulting the idea of the country being a "Union of States", as mentioned in the Constitution which describes the country as "India, that is Bharat".
Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Giriraj Singh later posted on X pictures of their invites.
Sharing a picture of his invite, Pradhan used the hashtag '#PresidentOfBharat' and said, "Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak Jaya He, Bharat Bhagya Vidhata".
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Republic of Bharat- happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards Amrit Kaal." Rejecting the opposition's criticism, he said, "The name Bharat is mentioned in the Constitution and the country has been known by it for thousands of years. Our country was Bharat, is Bharat and will remain Bharat." "In this Amrit Kaal people want that their country's name should be known as Bharat. Why should it have an English name. What is the problem of the Congress? 'India' word was used by British. The original name is Bharat," Sarma said.
Their own prince, he said, in a sarcastic reference to Rahul Gandhi, named his foot-march as "Bharat Jodo Yatra".
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that "our country is Bharat and there should be no doubt about this". The Congress has a problem with everything, he said.
Asked if the government is planning to do away with 'India' as the country's name during the coming special session of Parliament, he said he cannot react to speculation.
(with PTI inputs)