No big deal, says Anurag Thakur amid raging row over 'Bharat'

NEW DELHI: Amid massive furore over President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat', Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday wondered why the opposition parties were opposed to the nomenclature.

"It is no big deal. Earlier too you have seen several invites being sent out in the name of Bharat Sarkar. Where is the problem," he countered when asked about the opposition seeing red over the move.

"I am a minister of Bharat Sarkar, many news channels also have Bharat in their name. Why should anyone object to Bharat, who are these people who are allergic to the name Bharat," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Dinner invitations sent out by the Rashtrapati Bhawan to delegates and dignitaries attending the G20 Summit were in the name of President of Bharat, which triggered a political storm with the opposition alleging that the government was planning to drop the name India and stay with Bharat as the country's name.

"Who is opposing the name Bharat? Now have you even started feeling the pain at the mention of Bharat? These are the same people who put party before the nation and are stuck in the quicksand of politics. They also have attempted to malign the country from foreign soil," Thakur said.

He said it was the opposition parties who had stopped calling their coalition as UPA due to allegations of corruption during their 10 year rule.

"But they forget, even if they shed their name UPA, the faces, character and behaviour is the same. Just by changing your name from UPA does not change your deeds. The entire country is watching this coalition of corrupt, the 'Ghamandiya' alliance that is full of arrogance," he said.