Mamta government proposes to rename ‘West Bengal’ as ‘Bengal’
West Bengal government today 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.
“The cabinet took up a proposal to rename the state as ‘Bengal’ in English and ‘Bango’ or ‘Bangla’ in Bengali. Now we are giving a new proposal and will convene a special session of the Assembly on August 26 to pass a resolution to this effect,” state minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters after the meeting.
Another reason 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.
“Our CM gets to speak last. There is little time left,” a minister said.
Any change in the name of the state would require approval of Parliament.
The proposal has been welcomed by the state’s intelligentsia though some said no decision should be taken in haste. Welcoming the move, Sahitya Akademi award winning writer Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay said, “I am very happy. I wanted it much earlier. Banga is the original name, so it is not a change”.
Dadasaheb Phalke award recipient actor Saumitra Chatterjee said, “West Bengal has no meaning. The name ‘Bengal’ is more reasonable”.
Poet Nirendra Nath Chakrabarty, another Sahitya Akademi award winner, however, said, “No decision should be taken in haste in this regard. Opinion should be taken from the intelligentsia regarding the name change”, he said.
