Earlier in July 2018, the West Bengal 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 had sent the proposal to the home ministry
Kolkata: The Centre on Wednesday (July 3) informed the Rajya Sabha that it has not yet given its nod to rechristen West Bengal to "Bangla" as proposed by the state government, following which the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for necessary action including a constitutional amendment in the ongoing Parliament session.
Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai in a written response to a question from MP Ritabrata Banerjee said the Centre had not cleared the name "Bangla" for West Bengal.
Changing a state's name requires a constitutional amendment, and it is done after taking into consideration all relevant factors, he said.
On July 26, 2018, the West Bengal 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 had sent the proposal to the home ministry.
It suggested "Paschimbanga" in 2011, but it was turned down by the Central government.
In 2016, it proposed "Bengal" in English, "Bangla" in Bengali and "Bangal" in Hindi, which was also turned down. Finally, it proposed the name "Bangla".
When the earlier proposals were received, there was an objection from the central government that suggested the name "Bangla" had similarity to Bangladesh, and it would be difficult to differentiate the two at international forums, a senior official privy to the developments said.
The 2018 proposal was also referred to the ministry of external affairs for its view.
The move to rename is aimed at climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names in which West Bengal appears last in the list now.
Later in the day, Mamata wrote a letter to Modi seeking early completion of formalities for a constitutional amendment.
"The name West Bengal is in English and Paschim Banga in Bengali, and it does not bear the testimony of the classical history that our state has... Name of the state should invoke a strong sense of identity and its people, and this identity can be formed in the states name carries the signature of its history and culture," she said in the letter.
She said last year, her government had requested Modi to initiate necessary action to change the name of the state.
"You will kindly appreciate that we have, therefore, been accepting all advice of this government of India for getting the change in the name of our state accepted in the Parliament of India," she wrote.
"I would again request you to kindly accept the wishes of the people of West Bengal, enshrined in the resolution of the West Bengal legislative Assembly and in the proportion of the West Bengal Cabinet, to rename our state as Bangla in English, Hindi and Bengali.
"This rechristening will be in consonance with the history, culture and identity of our state and will reflect aspirations of our people," she said, making a strong case for the name change,” she added.
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