Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 24 (ANI): While congratulating Kerala for its new name 'Keralam', West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday reminded the Central government that the state of West Bengal also has its own proposal for changing its name to 'Bangla'.

According to an X post by TMC, the West Bengal CM said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 'Bangla birodhi' (Opponents of Bangla), claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah have no respect for the state's heritage and language.

TMC wrote, '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 Banerjee said that West Bengal's 'legitimate demand' should not be denied just because the state 'refused to bow before the BJP'.

'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,' TMC wrote on X.

The TMC government had passed a resolution to rename the state to Bangla, and has kept the demand before the Centre on several occasions.

Mamata renewed call for renaming the state, which comes ahead of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, to be held later this year. The TMC will look to record a thumping victory yet again, while the BJP is also eyeing the power.

Earlier today, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to the proposal to change the name of Kerala to Keralam.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Kerala Alteration of Name Bill will be sent to the state assembly for its approval.

The decision comes ahead of the assembly polls in the state, slated for the first half of this year. (ANI)