Gorakhpur, Dec 7 (IANS): The Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation (GMC) executive committee has initiated a move to replace 'India' with 'Bharat' on its official letterhead.

Gorakhpur is the constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Once the move is cleared, GMC would become the first municipal body in Uttar Pradesh to use Bharat, instead of India, on its letterhead, said Gorakhpur mayor Manglesh Srivastav.

The proposal of the executive council would now be placed before the GMC board at its next meeting.

The Gorakhpur mayor said the name 'Bharat' was being used since ancient times and the British rulers had introduced the name 'India.'

"Now, the time has come to remove the symbol of colonial slavery," he added.

BJP corporator Ajay Rai said all members had agreed to the proposal.

Another BJP corporator Mannu Jaiswal said in 2014, the then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath had raised the demand in Parliament to use Bharat instead of India. Hence, the initiative for this change on the chief minister’s home turf was a step in the right direction, he said.

Samajwadi Party corporator Ziaul Islam said the SP had no objection as (the Constitution says) “India that is Bharat.”

Earlier this year, the India versus Bharat debate was ignited after the invites for the G20 dinner in September called President Draupadi Murmu "President of Bharat" instead of the usual "President of India".

And when Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address at the G20 Summit, the nameplate kept in front of him read "Bharat" instead of "India".

As the India-Bharat debate started to heat up, the Prime Minister had asked his ministerial colleagues to avoid the political row saying that it has been the "country's ancient name".