Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, September 6, said that the Union government's alleged move to change the name of India was a continuation of its attempts to destroy the country's pluralism. The Chief Minister said all citizens should be ready to jointly protest against this narrow politics.

Vijayan asked why there was so much fear for the word India and said that renaming the country was a deliberate move to erase the nationalism inherent in the pledge "India is my country; all Indians are my brothers and sisters," which children are taught in schools.

¨The move to exclude the word 'India' is against the Constitution and the country itself. In its first article, the Constitution describes our country as 'India, that is Bharat'. Similarly, the 'Preamble' of the Constitution begins by saying 'We, the people of India'. The Union government is moving to amend the Constitution to exclude the word India from it,” he alleged.

Referring to the invitation letter sent to leaders of the countries participating in the G20 summit, which had 'President of Bharat' instead of 'President of India', Vijayan said this is against the essence of the Constitution.

Calling it an undemocratic and unconstitutional political move against the nation, the Chief Minister demanded that the Union government withdraw from the steps to change the name of the country.