Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was among the first to react when it became known that an invitation extended to G20 delegates was from the 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary 'President of India'. This was construed as a move by the Central government for changing the name of the country from India to Bharat. Stalin said that in the past nine years since coming to power in 2014, the only contribution of the Narendra Modi government towards the country was probably the idea of changing the name from India to Bharat.
The DMK which is ruling Tamil Nadu has been on a confrontation mode with the BJP led Central government on many issues. Stalin also took to social media and said that the opposition bloc had aptly named its alliance #INDIA and that this name had rattled the BJP which has led to it contemplating to change the name of the country. In a post on a microblogging site, Stalin said, “Seems like BJP is rattled by a single term called, INDIA. They recognize the strength of unity within the opposition. During elections, #INDIA will chase BJP out of power. #India Stays India."
DMK deputy general secretary and MP from Thoothukudi, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, who is also the sister of Chief Minister MK Stalin also lashed out at the BJP and the RSS on the President’s invitation to the G20 delegates being from the President of Bharat. Kanimozhi said that the RSS was setting the agenda for the whole nation. She stated that using ‘President of Bharat’ instead of ‘President of India’ was unprecedented and that there was no reason for such a political move. She said that the Central government seems to be following what the RSS and its chief Mohan Bhagwat says and the invitation to the G20 delegates was a clear indication of that. She added that the RSS chief had earlier said that the name of India has to be changed and the government was following suit.
The DMK is trying to capitalize on the government's move to change the name to Bharat from India and is conducting awareness programmes across the state, saying that the BJP is moving ahead according to the agenda of the RSS. Kanimozhi's statement that the RSS was setting the agenda for the nation is a clear indication of how the DMK would be pitching its campaign in Tamil Nadu.
As a political party expecting to win all the 39 Lok Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu, the DMK will be aggressively moving against the BJP government at the Centre. The government's move to change the name to Bharat will be on the agenda of the DMK. Early reactions from senior leaders indicate that the party would be focusing on the RSS angle in the name change as one of its major points.
Social scientist R. Raghuram while speaking to IANS said: “The name change from India to Bharat will be difficult to accept in south India and the DMK will capitalize on it. As a political front who fans Tamil feelings, this issue will be used across the state for tremendous political gain. The BJP, if it intends to change the name, will have to face the backlash in Tamil Nadu and it is certain that the alliance with the AIADMK will not be of any help as the name Bharat is difficult to resonate here.”
The DMK, with its Dravidian identity of social equality and promotion of Tamil, has seized upon the name change issue and will actively speak against it in the state. There is a possibility of a move like the anti-Hindi agitation being revived up by the party in the state. However, how its political ally Congress will handle this is a million dollar question, being a pan India party.