"We have taken the decision. Bangla and Bengal. We had told the Centre to please accept the decision of the Assembly. We would like it passed in Parliament next session," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said after a resolution was passed in the Assembly.

"Whenever we go out of India or to some other state we are known as people from Bengal. In 2011 we had once proposed to change the name of the state, but it was held back by the Centre. There was no decision regarding it. So we decided to bring it once again to change the name of the state to 'Bangla'," Banerjee said.

The resolution was moved by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee under rule 169. The opposition Congress, BJP and Left Front opposed the move.
"Those who are opposing the name change just for the sake of politics should be ashamed. It is a historic blunder and the history will not forgive them," said Mamata Banerjee.

In Bengali, the state is currently referred to as "Paschim Banga" or "Paschim Bangla."

Earlier, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government decided to rename the state as 'Bengal' after its earlier proposal of rechristening it 'Paschim Bango', made in 2011 when the Trinamool Congress took office, failed to receive the Centre's approval.

One of the reasons for changing the name is that whenever there is a meeting of all states, West Bengal figures at the bottom of the list which is prepared in alphabetical order.

(With agency inputs)