'Panic reaction, distraction': Rahul Gandhi on India-Bharat name change row

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a visit to Europe, on Friday took aim at the government over the India-Bharat name change controversy, saying it was in fear due to the Opposition alliance, INDIA, and resorted to what he described as "diversion tactics".

"The phrase, 'India, that is Bharat' works perfectly for me. It represents who we are. But there's a little bit of fear in the government. In a sense, for me it's a panic reaction. These are distraction tactics," he made the comments at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium.

Rahul Gandhi's remarks came against the backdrop of President Droupadi Murmu's G20 dinner invitations that were in the name of "President of Bharat", triggering a row and fuelling speculation of the government's plans to rename India in the upcoming special session of Parliament.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said whenever he or his party raised the Adani issue or crony capitalism, the former "came out with some dramatic new diversion tactics".

"The name of the opposition alliance, INDIA, has instilled fear in the government. INDIA represents who we are," he stressed.

"It disturbs the Prime Minister enough that he wants to change the name of the country. It's absurd," he said, while calling the India-Bharat dual formula a "fantastic idea".

The Congress leader said India is a Union of states according to the Constitution and stressed that the critical aspect to strengthening the Union was the conversations between its members.

Rahul Gandhi alleged that there was an attempt to change the future of the country.

"There's an alternative vision that is the BJP's vision. They believe power should be centralised, wealth needs to be concentrated and the conversation between the people of India should be suppressed," he said.

The Congress leader said for him it was a battle between two visions, which he termed as Mahatma Gandhi's vision and Nathuram Godse's vision.

Rahul Gandhi said Jammu and Kashmir will always remain an integral part of India and said it was "nobody else's business other than our own".

"Our position is clear. It is also important that India's democratic institutions are protected and the voice of the people is defended," he further said.