Reactions to India Rebranded as Bharat

The Indian government has reportedly proposed changing the country's name to Bharat, and this move might be enacted during the next parliamentary session on September 18.

There has been a deluge of commentary on the topic on various social media platforms since the news first emerged. Take a quick peek at how folks are responding to the new moniker.

To begin, the overwhelming majority of comments on social media have been positive towards the new moniker. The atmosphere is upbeat and optimistic.

Some have argued that the name change shouldn't be a huge concern because Bharat is already so widely used in India. India, they argue, is only a name the British made up, but Bharat is still the spiritually appropriate title.

Bharat seems to have a more indigenous flavour, and even the way it sounds conjures feelings of nationalism and patriotism.

But other people have said, "What's the point of changing the name if the basic political system is still the same and hasn't evolved at all?" A political smokescreen intended to make it seem as though something significant is at stake in the upcoming election.

As the term India is strongly ingrained in the country and has an emotional significance as well, this may come as a cultural shock to everyone. Suddenly shifting gears might be jarring.

There is no constitutional prohibition against using either of India's two official names—"Bharat" or "India"—but I do hope the government would not be so nave as to entirely abandon "India," which has tremendous brand value built up over generations. We shouldn't give up our usage of both terms since one has historical significance and the other is well accepted internationally. Shashi Tharoor gave his thoughts on the matter. This is a catch-all choice.

To counter this, politicians from the opposition parties have claimed that "the BJP government changed the name of India just because the opposition alliance is named India." If we switch to the name Bharat, would they do so for everyone?

The name change has received widespread support from the public, however there is a vocal minority that objects for the aforementioned grounds.