Mulayam Singh had promised to rename 'India' as 'Bharat' in Samajwadi Party's manifesto in 2004

Amid heated debate about Bharat and India, an old Samajwadi Party (SP) manifesto has surfaced, wherein the former party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had pledged to replace "India" with "Bharat" in the Constitution if the party came to power.

As per a TOI report, while this change of name has caused disagreement among members of the newly formed opposition alliance, INDIA, achieving unity on this issue may prove to be challenging. This can be attributed to the existence of the 2004 SP manifesto and the late Mulayam Singh's explicit support for replacing "India" with "Bharat" during a speech in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

Mulayam Singh's stance was aligned with the socialist principles followed by the ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia, who advocated for shedding colonial remnants, including the use of English. Lohia was a staunch supporter of Hindi as the official language of India, as he believed that the prevalence of English created a divide between the educated and uneducated masses. He often emphasized that the use of English hindered original thinking and fostered a sense of alienation among the less-educated population.


The 2004 SP manifesto, unveiled prior to the Lok Sabha elections in Lucknow, criticized the mention of "India" in the Constitution, deeming it a flaw. It emphasized the necessity of replacing it with "Bharat" to preserve the nation's dignity. The manifesto stated, "India should become Bharat," and pointed out that historically, the country had always been known as Bharat. However, it was renamed "India" during the 200 years of British colonial rule.

Sources within the SP have revealed that Mulayam Singh, during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had also raised concerns and reservations about the use of the term "India" in the Constitution.

The ongoing debate over the usage of "Bharat" versus "India" in official documents underscores the complex historical and ideological factors that continue to influence Indian politics today.