West Bengal set to become 'Bangla' across all languages

Kolkata: The state Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to change the state's name from West Bengal to 'Bangla' in all languages. This will help the state to climb the alphabetic sequence when it comes to speaking at various meetings at the Centre.

The Chief Minister of Bengal gets to speak at the end or often not at all, as per the alphabetical sequence, in which West Bengal comes last.

The resolution will now be sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for its nod. Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee placed the proposal for changing the name of the state from West Bengal to 'Bangla'. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged the Assembly house to pass the resolution unanimously, in the interest of the state itself.

"We had sent a proposal earlier to change the state's name in three languages but after sitting on it for two years, the Union government has sent a communication recently, advising us to choose one name instead of three. We do not want any controversy on this issue and therefore we have decided to finally choose the name 'Bangla'. So let the resolution be passed unanimously," Banerjee said.

It may be mentioned that on 29 August 2016, the state Assembly had passed a resolution to change the name of the state to "Bengal" in English, "Bangla" in Bengali and "Bangal" in Hindi.

The Union Home Ministry had rejected the proposal for different names in three languages and made it clear that there should be a single name. The state Cabinet had already passed a resolution to change the name of the state to "Bangla" in all languages on September 8, 2017.

"We have zeroed in on Bangla, as the name stands for the identity of Bengal. The name is intertwined in our blood, in our heart, in our literature, culture and in our unity in diversity. Our language is the fifth largest in the world and second largest in Asia," she maintained, adding that leading poets like Rabindranath Tagore and Jibanananda Das have used the name Bangla in their literary works.

According to her, many states have changed their names, including Mumbai, Chennai, Gujarat and Odisha. The change in the name would ensure that the state comes fourth after Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Assam on the alphabetic sequence.

Banerjee also mentioned that the previous Left Front government had also tried to effect a name change for West Bengal during their tenure.

It may be mentioned that on July 20, 1999, the Left Front had passed a resolution changing the name of state to 'Paschim Banga', but it did not work out. The state's capital and also the national capital till 1911, Calcutta, was changed to Kolkata in January 2001 by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led Left Front government.