Center refuses to rename West Bengal as Bangla, CM Mamata Banerjee retaliates

KOLKATA: The Narendra Modi government at the Centre has rejected the West Bengal government's proposal to rename the state as 'Bangla'.

The Ministry of External Affairs sources said that the Centre has returned the proposal objecting to the new name citing its similarity with neighbouring Bangladesh.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on thursday took to Twitter to hit out at the NDA government. she wrote, "I have been noticing that almost every day BJP has been changing the names of historical places and institutions unilaterally to suit their own political vested interests. But, in respect of Bengal, the attitude is totally different."

Recently, I have been noticing that almost every day BJP has been changing the names of historical places and institutions unilaterally to suit their own political vested interests. But, in respect of Bengal, the attitude is totally different. My FB post: https://t.co/TEnjjLkZB0

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 14, 2018

The sources also indicated that the state unit of BJP is in favour of renaming the name of the state as 'Paschimbanga'. Informatively, the Mamata Banerjee Government in West Bengal had earlier proposed the renaming of the state on three occasions in 2011, 2016 and this year.

The first proposal, to change the name to Paschimbanga was struck down by the Mammohan Singh laid UPA-2 government. The 2016 proposal to name 'Bengal' in English, 'Bangla' in Bengali and 'Bangal' in Hindi was struck down by the NDA government.

West Bengal BJP chief, Dilip Ghosh observed, "West Bengal's name, if changed at all, should only be 'Paschimbanga' otherwise it will create unnecessary confusion as it has similarity with our neighbouring country Bangladesh. It is our demand which we have been consistently placing since long.

(With inputs from online desk)