Puducherry L-G, CM welcome proposed renaming of India to Bharat

Soundararajan & CM Rangasamy welcome Centre's move to rename India 'Bharat'. They also support 'One Nation One Election' concept. L-G criticizes TN Sports Minister's remarks on Sanatana Dharma & DMK's inaction on Sri Lankan Tamil genocide. #Bharat #OneNationOneElection #SanatanaDharma #SriLankanTamils #TamilisaiSoundararajan #NRangasamy

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Tuesday said there was nothing wrong in the Central government’s reported move to rename India, ‘Bharat.’

Interacting with reporters after attending Teachers’ Day celebrations, the Lt Governor said the Centre’s move should be welcomed by all. “Even Bharathiar (a Tamil nationalist poet) used to refer to the country as Bharatha desam in his writings. There is nothing wrong in calling the country Bharat,” she said.

The Chief Minister, who was also present at the event, said the renaming should be welcomed.

The L-G and CM were replying to a question on media reports of official G20 dinner invitations being sent to heads of countries, under the name of ‘President of Bharat’, and the reported move by the Union government to introduce a Bill to rename India as Bharat, in the upcoming special session of Parliament.

Asked for a response to the idea of the proposed ‘One Nation One Election’, Mr. Rangasamy said the concept has to be appreciated. “I welcome the idea of One Nation One Election,” he said.

Ms. Soundararajan also criticised the remarks of Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatana Dharma. “He (Mr. Udhayanidhi) has hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community,” she said, and alleged that the Minister, without knowing Hinduism, was “trying to equate the religion with fascism.”

On the Minister’s comment on the 2002 Gujarat riots and the recent violence in Manipur, she said the DMK had no right to speak on these subjects. The DMK has to answer [the people] for the ethnic violence that took place in Sri Lanka, when the party shared power [with the Congress] at Centre. “The DMK could only enact resignation dramas when Sri Lankan Tamils were getting killed in the ethnic violence. The DMK did nothing to stop the genocide against Sri Lankan Tamils,” the Lt Governor alleged.