Trinamool Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee on Tuesday urged the Rajya Sabha to rename West Bengal as Bangla, arguing that the name better reflects the state’s history and culture, PTI reported.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Banerjee said the state Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution for the change in July 2018, but the Centre was yet to approve it.

“Our supreme leader Mamata Banerjee has always maintained that this rechristening will be in consonance with the history, culture, and identity of our state and will reflect the aspirations of our people,” the MP said.

Bengal was partitioned in 1947, with the Hindu-majority western region becoming West Bengal in India and the Muslim-majority eastern half joining Pakistan as East Bengal. In 1955, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan before gaining independence in 1971 as Bangladesh.

Banerjee said the renaming was overdue as “East Pakistan” no longer existed.

The Mamata Banerjee-led government has long pushed for the change, arguing that West Bengal is at a disadvantage in meetings where states speak in alphabetical order. Officials have complained that they get little time to present their views.

In 2011, the Trinamool Congress government had proposed renaming the state “Paschim Banga”, but the Centre rejected it. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Opposition had supported the move.

In August 2016, the state Assembly passed a resolution to rename the state as Bangla in Bengali, Bengal in English, and Bangal in Hindi, but the Centre refused to clear it.

A state can be renamed only through a bill introduced in Parliament with the President’s recommendation and passed by both Houses. The last such change was in 2011, when Orissa became Odisha.

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