Cabinet passes resolution to name state 'Bangla' in all languages

Kolkata: The state government has decided to go for only one name of the state that is "Bangla" instead of two different ones in Bengali and English.

On Friday, the state Cabinet has passed the resolution of naming the state as "Bangla" in all languages instead of renaming it as "Bangla" in Bengali and "Bengal" in English that was proposed earlier.

After the Cabinet meeting, the state Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said: "The proposal of renaming the state as "Bangla" in all three languages Hindi, Bengali and English has been passed in the Cabinet meeting. The proposal will be sent to Delhi."

It is learnt that once the Centre give its nod allowing renaming of the state as "Bangla", the matter will also get ratified in the state Assembly.

It may be mentioned that on August 29 in 2016, the state Assembly had passed the resolution of renaming the state as "Bangla" and "Bengal" in English in a special session. It was passed in the Cabinet meeting on August 2 of the same year.

The day it was passed in the state Assembly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said: "The name "Bangla" has a deep rooted connection with the rich history, tradition and culture of the state. The word "Bangla" is also present in the songs of Rabindranath Tagore." It may be recalled that all Trinamool Congress MLAs stood up in the House and sang Tagore's song "banglar mati banglar jal" after the resolution was passed in the state Assembly.

It may be recalled that the erstwhile Left Front government had attempted to change the name of the state from "West Bengal" to "Bangla" in 1999. Again, after the change of guard in the state in 2011, the Trinamool Congress government had proposed "Paschim Banga" as the new name but the Centre didn't give its nod.

The Mamata Banerjee government had again took up the matter after coming to power for the second term. Her government had proposed either "Bangla" or "Banga" in Bengali and "Bengal" in English.