Amid Kerala name change row, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal has suggested renaming Delhi to Indraprastha, the ancient city mentioned in Indian history. On Wednesday, February 25, he wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the change. Khandelwal also requested that statues of the five Pandavas be installed in the city at a suitable location.
Delhi to become Indraprastha? BJP MP pushes proposal
In his letter, Khandelwal explained that the name “Delhi” represents only a short period in history. He wrote, “Restoring the name Indraprastha would reconnect the capital of modern India with its ancient civilisational foundation. It would symbolise that the seat of the world’s largest democracy stands upon the legacy of one of humanity’s oldest cultural traditions.” He added that renaming the city would better reflect Delhi’s culture, civilisation, food habits, and language.
This is not the first call for the change. In October 2025, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) wrote to Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra, requesting the city be renamed Indraprastha to highlight its ancient history and culture, according to PTI.
Kerala sets a precedent
Khandelwal’s letter came just a day after the Union Cabinet approved Kerala’s request to rename the state to Keralam, ahead of the assembly elections scheduled in April 2026. The decision was made at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the new PMO complex, Seva Teerth. After the Cabinet’s approval, the President of India will send the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Assembly for its opinion, as per Article 3 of the Constitution.
The Kerala Assembly had already passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, to rename the state. The official reasoning was: “The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam Language. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956. Kerala Piravi Day is also on the 1st day of November.”
Bengal’s proposal remains pending
Just a day before, while congratulating Kerala for renaming itself Keralam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reminded the Central government that West Bengal also has a proposal to rename the state Bangla. According to a post on X by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Mamata Banerjee criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling them ‘Bangla-birodhi’ or opponents of Bangla. She claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have no respect for the state’s heritage, language, or culture.
The TMC post stated, “Mamata Banerjee warmly congratulated the people of Kerala on the Union Cabinet’s approval to rename their state ‘Keralam’. At the same time, she reminded the Centre that a similar proposal to rename West Bengal as ‘Bangla’ has been lying buried for years.”
Mamata added that West Bengal’s “legitimate demand” should not be denied just because the state has resisted bowing to the BJP.
The TMC post quoted Mamata as saying, “Every election season, PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah descend on Bengal, shedding crocodile tears and pretending to love our soil, our culture, our people. Spare us the drama. These Bangla-Birodhis have no respect for our heritage, no regard for our language, no honour for our icons, and zero concern for our dignity. We rejoice when any state asserts its identity, but Bengal will not accept this vindictive discrimination. Bengal’s legitimate demand cannot be denied purely because we refuse to bow before the BJP high command.”
Shashi Tharoor criticises centre over Kerala name change
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the central government for focusing on renaming Kerala to Keralam instead of launching new projects for the state. Tharoor pointed out that the state’s name in Malayalam has always been Keralam, questioning the purpose of the official change in English.
“It has already been ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam. So now, a Malayalam word is coming into English. I don’t know what difference it makes. The government has not given us an AIIMS or any new institutions. They have given us no projects in the Union Budget. But when it comes to a name change, they are willing to authorise it,” Tharoor said.
In another post on X, Tharoor raised a tongue-in-cheek question about what residents of Keralam would now be called. He noted that terms like “Keralite” or “Keralan” would need to change, joking that “‘Keralamite’ sounds like a microbe and ‘Keralamian’ like a rare earth mineral.”
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal to rename Kerala to Keralam on Tuesday. The move comes just ahead of the state assembly elections, where 140 members will be elected. The Election Commission of India has not yet announced the official polling date.
The Kerala state assembly had already passed a resolution for the name change. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who moved the resolution in 2024, requested that the Union government recognise the name Keralam in all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.