NEW DELHI: A BJP lawmaker on Friday raised a demand to rename Delhi as Indraprastha in the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly.
Poonam Sharma, BJP MLA from Wazirpur, made her pitch through a special mention at the House sitting, saying it will connect the city to its roots.
"I urge Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to pass a resolution in the Assembly to change the name of Delhi to Indraprastha, and send it for the Centre's approval," she said.
The BJP legislator asserted that the renaming of the national capital would prove to be a crucial chapter of "Cultural Renaissance" in the country.
The same demand was earlier raised by the BJP MP from Chandni Chowk, Praveen Khandelwal, in a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Meanwhile, Sharma said Delhi's glorious past dates back to the Mahabharat, and that there are "concrete cultural and historic evidence" that the city earlier existed as Indraprastha and the name Delhi came much later.
"The name Indraprastha reminds us of the era when our country was known as a golden bird.
The new name will accord a great cultural recognition to the country," she said.
Sharma asserted that the Rekha Gupta government maintains that Delhi should not only have modern infrastructure but also be rooted in the "glory of the Sanatan Dharma.