The Centre’s nod to rename Kerala as Keralam, ahead of the state Assembly polls, has left Mamata Banerjee fuming. Soon after coming to power in 2011, Mamata had placed a resolution in the state Assembly to change the name to Pashchimbanga. In her second term as chief minister, Mamata got a cabinet nod to rename the state as ‘Bengal’ in English and ‘Bongo’ or ‘Bangla’ in Bengali. We will get the Bengal name for our state,” Mamata said. The Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on June 24, 2024 seeking the name change.

Source: The Telegraph February 24, 2026 18:22 UTC