Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that the country is known by three names: Bharat, India, and Hindustan, and people can use whichever name they prefer.
Speaking to journalists outside the Assembly on Tuesday, he responded to comments by RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, who suggested that the country should only be called ‘Bharat’. Abdullah disagreed, saying, “We call it Bharat. We call it India. We call it Hindustan. We have three names. Whichever name resonates with you, you can call it that.”
He pointed out that official institutions also use different names. “It is the ‘Constitution of India’ and the ‘Reserve Bank of India’. Why is that? That question should be asked. If the country’s name is Bharat, shouldn’t it have been called only that?” he asked.
Abdullah also noted that both ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’ are written on the Prime Minister’s plane and highlighted the names of the armed forces. “It is called the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army. But we also speak from the perspective of Bharat.”
Quoting the song ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha, Hindustan Hamara’, he said, “We say this too, it is a different name. You can call the country by whichever name you prefer.”
On Assembly disruptions and the budget 
When asked about a statement from the Muslim Personal Law Board, Abdullah declined to comment, saying, “I cannot comment on it because I have not gone through it.”
Addressing disruptions in the Assembly, he said a committee has been formed under the chief secretary to work on the regularisation of daily wagers’ jobs. “I have given them a six month deadline to complete the exercise. Whatever our policy or plan, it will be presented in the next budget,” he said. 
On criticism from the Opposition regarding his statement that the budget was a “love letter” to the people, he remarked, “They have to oppose everything. That is why their name is Opposition. We have done the same when we were in the Opposition. This Assembly, and Parliament, will continue like this.” 
Defending his statement, he said, “This love letter (budget) was not just for the BJP. It was for all the voters of BJP, National Conference, Congress, PDP, and People’s Conference. It was for all the people of Jammu and Kashmir. I have no hesitation in owning this love letter. I will continue to write this love letter over the next five years.”
Debate over ‘India’ as ‘Bharat’
The debate about calling the country ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’ started when the government used ‘President of Bharat’ in official G20 invitations. According to the media reports, many BJP leaders said ‘India’ is a name given by the British and ‘Bharat’ is the real, historical name of the country. They believe ‘Bharat’ should be used more in official documents.
The opposition parties dismissed this as a diversion from larger issues such as inflation and unemployment. Some also speculated that the BJP’s stance was influenced by the opposition alliance’s name, INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), and was an attempt to counter it.