Gujarat Chief minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday announced that the state government has decided to rename dragon fruit as "Kamalam" as the outer shape of the fruit resembles a lotus.

"As the outer shape of the fruit resembles a lotus, hence dragon fruit shall be renamed as kamalam," said Rupani.

He made the announcement while interacting with the media during the launch of the Chief Minister Horticulture Development Mission.

"We have applied for the patent of the dragon fruit to be called as kamalam. But as of now, we the Gujarat government have decided to call the fruit as kamalam," he said.

CM Rupani believes that the word dragon for the fruit sounded inappropriate as it is "associated with China".

"The name of dragon fruit is associated with China and we have changed it," he said.

It may be stated that lotus is the symbol of the BJP and the Gujarat BJP headquarters is also named 'Shri Kamalam'. In Sanskrit language, kamalam means lotus.