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STORY: India's president referred to herself as the President of Bharat instead of the President of India this week, sparking a row over the country's name.

Droupadi Murmu put the title on official dinner invitations for a reception she was hosting for leaders at the G20 summit in New Delhi.

India is also called Bharat, or Bharata, or Hindustan.

Those are its pre-colonial names in Indian languages, used interchangeably by ordinary Indians and officials.

But high offices usually stick to titles such as President or Prime Minister of India while communicating in English.

So what changed?

Over the years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP has been changing colonial names, saying it'll help India move past a mentality of slavery.

Supporters of the invitation name-change say British colonial rulers coined the name India while the real name was always Bharat.

To Hindu groups linked to BJP, the G20 summit was an opportunity to shed India's colonial baggage.

Others oppose the name-change.

Mamata Banerjee, a top opposition leader, said everyone in India says "Bharat;" it's nothing new. "So what happened suddenly," she asked, "that the government had to change the name of the country?"

The answer - she and others say - is that it aimed to eclipse a major opposition alliance formed two months ago to fight next year's elections.

It's called INDIA, an acronym.

That's to challenge the nationalist BJP on its own turf, analysts say.

Another opposition politician pointed out that the country-name India had "brand value" built up over centuries.

An official at the president's office declined to comment when asked by Reuters.