THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has responded to rumours that the central government will rename the country as Bharat. He said in a Facebook post that the move to change the name India is a continuation of efforts to destroy the country's pluralism. The Chief Minister also demanded that the central government withdraw from such measures as they are undemocratic and unconstitutional.

Chief Minister's Facebook post:

The central government's move to change the name India is a continuation of repeated attempts to undermine the country's pluralism. All the people should be ready to protest together against this narrow politics.

The move behind the exclusion of the word 'India' is against the Constitution and the country itself. In its first Article, the Constitution describes our country as 'India, that is Bharat'. Similarly, the 'Preamble' of the Constitution begins by saying 'We, the people of India'. The central government is moving to amend the constitution in such a way as to exclude the word India from it.