The Centre’s nod to rename Kerala as Keralam, ahead of the state Assembly polls, has left Mamata Banerjee fuming.

Since she took oath as chief minister for the first time, Mamata has been trying to rename West Bengal.

“We have nothing against any states. Kerala’s proposal has been accepted because there is an understanding between the BJP and the CPM,” Mamata said on Tuesday afternoon.

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the decision on Tuesday after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Seva Teerth, the new PMO complex.

“The Union Cabinet chaired by the prime minister approved the proposal for alterating the name of state of Kerala as 'Keralam',” Vaishnaw said.

Soon after coming to power in 2011, Mamata had placed a resolution in the state Assembly to change the name to Pashchimbanga. An all-party meeting was held on August 29, 2011 and the Bengal MLAs including the Left agreed to the name change.

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.

In 2025, the Trinamool MP Ritabrata Banerjee had raised the demand on the floor of the Rajya Sabha.

The Centre had refused to change the name citing a Constitutional amendment would be needed.

“They (BJP) won’t be in power forever. We will get the Bengal name for our state,” Mamata said.

Following the Cabinet’s nod, the President of India will refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution for expressing its views.

An official release stated that after receiving the Assembly’s views, the government will obtain the President’s recommendation for introducing the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 in Parliament to alter the state’s name in the First Schedule of the Constitution.

Article 3 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to alter the name of any state by law, subject to procedural requirements, including the President’s recommendation and consultation with the concerned state legislature.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on June 24, 2024 seeking the name change.

The ministry of home affairs examined the proposal. With the approval of Union home minister Amit Shah, the draft Cabinet note was circulated to the department of legal affairs and the legislative department under the ministry of law and justice, both of which concurred with the proposal.

BJP Kerala President Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: "...There are many things that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance will do in Keralam that they have never done before, could never do earlier, and have never attempted. The BJP and the NDA are a coalition, a political formation that believes in completing the unfinished tasks, the incomplete work of the last 65 years left undone by the politics of the Congress party."

"It is our responsibility as the BJP and as every Malayali to reclaim and protect the heritage, history, culture, and traditions of our proud Keralam. We are happy and privileged that God has given us this opportunity, and that the people have given us this opportunity, to initiate the renaming of our proud state of Kerala as Keralam,” he added.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to X to raise linguistic concerns.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote: "All to the good, no doubt, but a small linguistic question for the Anglophones among us: what happens now to the terms “Keralite” and “Keralan” for the denizens of the new “Keralam”? “Keralamite” sounds like a microbe and “Keralamian” like a rare earth mineral…!"

"@CMOKerala might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal," he added.

The renaming proposal now moves into the constitutional process in Parliament, where it will require legislative approval before ‘Keralam’ formally replaces ‘Kerala’ in the Constitution.

“In English, it’s written as Vienna, in German Wien, and in French Vienne. What was the need for a name change? Those speaking in Malayalam could say, Keralam and English-speakers continue as Kerala,” said a journalist from Kerala.