No name change for West Bengal to “Bangla” right now, says Centre; requires constitutional amendment

By Our Bureau Last Updated Tuesday, January 5th, 2021, 3:11:08 AM IST

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday said that changing the name of West Bengal into Bangla was not being approved of right now. The reason cited was technical, but it is being seen as a move with significant political ramifications.

During the question-answer session in the Parliament today, the Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai mentioned that the name change was not being given the stamp of approval as “change in the name of a state required constitutional amendment after taking into consideration all relevant matters.”

Changing the name of West Bengal to Bangla has been a long-standing demand from the state. On July 26, 2018, the West Bengal State Assembly had passed a resolution to change the name of the state to Bangla. It was then sent to the Centre for approval.

The process of changing the name was first started in 2016 when three different names for the state – “Bangla” in Bengali, “Bengal” in English and “Bangal” in Hindi was decided. However, this proposal was rejected by the Centre, which asked for a single name that can be used irrespective of the language.

Subsequently, there were indications from the Centre that the name “Bangla” may not be approved because it resembles Bangladesh. West Bengal shares over 2,200 km of border with the neighbouring country.

Moreover, the decision to change the name to Bangla has not found approval from the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The state BJP prefers the name “Paschimbanga” as “Banga” is mentioned in the national anthem.

Wednesday’s development – the Centre not clearing the name change – is thus also being seen as a move with a political motive behind, as the ruling Trinamool Congress sees a BJP hand in it.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been mentioning for months that the Centre has not yet approved of the proposal and though she has not yet made any official statement, sources said that she is likely to write to the Centre protesting it.