Changing original 'Bharat' name to India was British legacy: Sumitra Mahajan

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday said the countrys original name was unquestionably Bharat and changing it to India was the legacy of the British.A row erupted on Tuesday after invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out by President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as President of Bharat instead of the customary President of India, with the opposition accusing the Modi government of planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the countrys name.I do not understand why there should be a dispute over the names- Bharat and India.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday said the country's original name was ''unquestionably'' Bharat and changing it to ''India'' was the legacy of the British.

A row erupted on Tuesday after invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out by President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary 'President of India', with the opposition accusing the Modi government of planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country's name.

''I do not understand why there should be a dispute over the names- Bharat and India. The original name of our country was Bharat. The country is also called Hindustan,” Mahajan told PTI.

She said the Sindhu Valley civilisation was called the Indus Valley civilization by the British.

''As a result, the British started addressing Bharat as India as per their understanding. Due to the British rule over Bharat, the term remained in vogue,” the former Lok Sabha member said.

Mahajan said no person should have any objection to India being called Bharat. ''We, as citizens of Bharat, call ourselves Bharatiya,” she added.

Whenever I used to go on foreign tours as Lok Sabha speaker, I would jokingly say that I should get the front chair based on the English alphabet as I represent Bharat, whose name starts with the letter ''B''.