Dilip Ghosh, a senior member of the BJP from West Bengal, said on Sunday that sculptures of foreigners would be taken down in Kolkata and that India will be renamed Bharat. Those opposed to the name change, according to the Medinipur MP, are free to leave the nation.
The former vice president of the BJP made the following statement at a “Chai pe Charcha” event in Kharagpur, which is inside his electoral district: “When our party comes to power in West Bengal, we will remove all statues of foreigners in Kolkata.”
“Bharat will be the new name for India. Those who don’t like it are free to go, he added.
A nation cannot have two names, and because global leaders are in New Delhi for the G20 meeting, now is the right moment to alter the name, according to Rahul Sinha, another top BJP MP from the region.
Santanu Sen, a spokeswoman for the Trinamool Congress, said that the BJP was attempting to “divert attention from real issues because it is afraid of the opposition INDIA alliance.”
In order to compete with the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for next year, opposition parties under the leadership of the Congress have created the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).