Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and veteran politician Lalu Prasad Yadav's old video interview has resurfaced at a time India's partisan political circle id strife with the India versus Bharat debate. The young-er Lalu Prasad chewing onto a Neem twig, part of his oral health regime, said in the interview, “Delhi is India, and this is Bharat”.
For context, Lalu Prasad Yadav was interviewed by NDTV, where the bare chested politician is seen chewing onto a neem twig, when the journalist asks the RJD chief uses a toothbrush. To this Lalu Prasad says ‘he does sometimes’.
Lalu Prasad is then asked, that securing a neem twig at the national capital Delhi must be a difficult task. To this Lalu Prasad Yadav says “You don't get this in Delhi, Delhi is India, and this is Bharat, We get this in Bharat”.
The video where Lalu Prasad Yadav compares India and Bharat, has emerged on micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter) at a time when speculations have suggested that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government is aiming to rename India as Bharat.
See the video here
The controversy arose over the use of 'President of Bharat' and 'Prime Minister of Bharat' on official G20 Summit invitations, instead of President of India and Prime Minister of India.
Opposition bloc, also known as INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) has questioned the move by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) -led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the crucial G-20 Summit meet in national capital Delhi from 9-10 September.
Notably, the mention of Bharat instead of India has raised speculation of a name change in the special session of Parliament, which will be held from September 18 to 22. However, government has not announced any agenda for the special session.
INDIA leaders questioned the speculated move to change India's name into Bharat and questioned whether it was prompted by the opposition bloc's name, social media users had fun sharing Lalu Yadav's old video on the difference between India and Bharat. On a lighter note, the video also showed what Lalu would pick between Bharat and India any day, social media users commented.
Catch all the Business News, Politics news,Breaking NewsEvents andLatest News Updates on Live Mint. Download TheMint News App to get Daily Market Updates.