New Delhi: The Lok Sabha is likely to take up a private members’ Bill seeking to amend the Constitution to replace the word ‘India’ in the Preamble of the Constitution with ‘Bharat’ in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament.
The private members’ Bill was introduced by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Bhartruhari Mahtab in the Lok Sabha. The senior BJD MP said that historically the country was known as ‘Bharat’ but due to the advent of the British in the country, the term ‘India’ came in vogue.
“Though there are indications that the name ‘India’ was also in use even in very ancient times, the term gained prominence with the advent of the British imperial rule. For this reason, often the use of the term ‘India’ is regarded as an imperial legacy. The framers of our Constitution did give recognition to the name ‘Bharat’ and named the Republic as ‘India’ over ‘Bharat’. That is why the term India has been used to refer to the Republic throughout the Constitution,” says the Bill.
Mahtab also said that 70 per cent of the people in the country do not understand the term India.
“The country should have a single name. In some parts of the country, people even call it ‘Hindustan’,” he said.
Significantly, the Cuttack MP has introduced the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha recently. The Bill amends Article 1 of the Constitution and seeks substitution of clause (1) by “Bharat shall be a Union of States”. The Bill seeks substitution of the word ‘India’ throughout the Constitution by ‘Bharat’.
The Bill also amends the Preamble. It states that for the words, “The People of India” shall be substituted by the words, “The People of Bharat”.