Political motive behind denial of state's name change: Mamata

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that there is a political motive for not allowing change of the state's name to 'Bangla' and accused the Centre of 'depriving' the state.

"We have been trying since 2003. So many years have gone by but till date it (name change) has not happened. I am amazed that in spite of giving all clarifications, Bengal is being deprived," Banerjee said at the floor of the state Assembly.

She maintained that she had already written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue and with the permission of Speaker Biman Banerjee, laid down her letter before the House. "I have urged the Prime Minister to take necessary action including a constitutional amendment in the ongoing Parliament session," Banerjee added. She further said that 'Bengali' is the fifth largest spoken language in the world. "Bengali language is our pride and all languages should be respected," Banerjee reiterated. "I would request you to kindly accept the wishes of the people of West Bengal, as enshrined in the Resolution of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and in the proposal of the West Bengal Cabinet, to rename our state as 'Bangla' in English, Hindi and Bengali. This re-christening will be in consonance with the history, culture and identity of our state and will reflect on the aspirations of our people," the letter by Banerjee stated.

It was July 2018 when the state Assembly had passed a resolution unanimously to change the name of the state to 'Bangla' in the three most-spoken languages -- Bengali, Hindi and English -- and sent the proposal to the Union Home Ministry.

It may be mentioned that Union minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai, in a written response to a question from MP Ritabrata Banerjee on Wednesday, had said that the Centre has not cleared the name 'Bangla' for West Bengal.