Kerala CM flays alleged move to rename India as 'Bharat', demands that Centre withdraw its decision

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday criticised the central government's alleged move to rename India as 'Bharat', and said that it was a part of the repeated attempts by the ruling regime to destroy the nation's pluralism.

Vijayan, in a statement, said that any political decision should not be against the interests of the nation. In the present case, the alleged move to rename the country is ''undemocratic'' and ''unconstitutional'', he added.

Questioning why the Centre was afraid of the word 'India', he demanded that the central government withdraw the steps taken by it to change the name of the country.

The Kerala CM also urged the people to protest together against such ''narrow-minded politics''.

A political storm has been kicked off in the country after invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out on behalf of President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary 'President of India'.