'India versus Bharat' debate orchestrated by BJP to divert attention from pressing issues: TMC's Abhishek Banerjee

KOLKATA: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the 'India versus Bharat' debate has been orchestrated by the BJP to divert attention from pressing issues such as price rise, communal tensions, border disputes and unemployment. The debate started after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan shared on X, formerly Twitter, a G20 dinner invite in which Droupadi Murmu was described as 'President of Bharat'.

"INDIA vs BHARAT is just a distraction orchestrated by the BJP. Let's cut to the chase and hold the govt accountable for skyrocketing prices, rampant inflation, communal tensions, unemployment, border disputes and their empty rhetoric of Double Engine and Nationalism. #StayFocused," Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary, tweeted.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday questioned the need to "suddenly use only Bharat" while referring to India in official communiques.


Alluding to the controversy over the G20 dinner invite, she said the world knows the country as India.