A parliamentary committee headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sushil Kumar Modi has written in a report that it prefers the Union of India phrase to the Indian government’s address in New Delhi, rather than ‘Centre’, which is also liked by opposition politicians. We do. However, one ministry is not happy with the suggestion. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi referred to India as the Union of India during the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s speech in the Lok Sabha, a phrase that has been debated daily within the media since then.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi, the BJP said that India has a “central” government and states are merely administrative units, while many insisted that Rahul Gandhi emphasize the importance of dialogue and discussion between the Center and the states. Whatever has been said for, has been said only on constitutional grounds. BJP’s Amit Malviya and Tejashwi Surya launched attacks against Rahul Gandhi and it was further taken forward by MP Nishikant Dubey and given a breach of privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi and termed his speech as a “conspiracy to divide the country”.
The Government of Tamil Nadu, under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, also refers to the “Centre” as the “Union of India”. BJP has objection to this too. According to the Deccan Herald report, now the report of the parliamentary committee headed by Sushil Modi has said that using the word “central government” is indeed “inappropriate”.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personal, Public, Public Grievances, Law and Justice Affairs presented its report on the Demands for Grants for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in the Parliament on Thursday, 24 March 2022. The Standing Committee of Parliament said that the word “Central Government” should be replaced with “Union of India” and that the officials of the three organs – executive, legislature and judiciary – should also be called “officers of the Union of India”.
However, the Personnel Ministry has “categorically” told the committee that such a suggestion is out of its jurisdiction. Responding to this, the committee said that this recommendation is within its limits. The committee also said that it is unhappy with such derogatory and indiscreet response from the ministry.