NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs has rejected the demand of Mamata Banerjee government to rename West Bengal as ‘Bangla’. “Changing a state’s name requires constitutional amendment and it is done after taking into consideration all relevant factors,” MoS, Home, Nityanand Rai said in a written response to a question from MP Ritabrata Banerjee.
A senior government official said the proposal involves not just constitutional amendment but also a lot of expenditure and therefore, the Centre has not approved the state’s demand.
Following the development, Mamata has written to PM Narendra Modi and requested to get a constitutional amendment passed in the ongoing session of Parliament, according to sources.
‘This is Parliament, don’t turn it into WB Assembly’
Amid relentless slugfest between the BJP and the Trinamool in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla urged upon members not to turn the House into West Bengal Assembly.
Objecting to BJP MPs alleging ‘cut money’ being paid to Trinamool leaders, the party’s leader in the LS Sudeep Bandyopadhyay said such “wild allegations” must be expunged from the records. Even as he was speaking, BJP MPs heckled him on which Birla said, “Please don’t turn the House into West Bengal Assembly.”