Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that the renaming of the Left Democratic Front (LDF)-ruled Kerala was because of the tacit understanding between the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is also in the form of a clandestine political agreement in West Bengal.
“The name change for Kerala was possible because of the understanding between the BJP and CPI-M, which is also there in West Bengal. But our proposal for renaming ‘West Bengal’ as ‘Bangla’ was not allowed. However, I will go through to the end to ensure that West Bengal’s name is changed,” the Chief Minister said while speaking to the media persons.
According to CM Banerjee, she proposed the name change for West Bengal, taking into account the state’s culture, history, thought process, and philosophy.
“The proposal was also passed in the West Bengal Assembly more than once. But the Union government did not endorse the proposal. When our students go for national-level examinations or interviews, they are called at the end since the name of the state begins with ‘W’, which figures towards the end in the English alphabetical list. I, too, face the same problem when I go to speak at any conference as the state Chief Minister,” she said.
According to the West Bengal Chief Minister, in the past, several state governments’ proposals to change the names of their respective states were approved by the Union government.
“However, it was only we (West Bengal) who were deprived,” she added.
However, at the same time, she congratulated the people of Kerala over the change of name of the state.
She also claimed that in the past she requested the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the proposal to rename “West Bengal” as “Bangla”.
“But those discussions did not yield results, as they are “anti-Bengal” and “anti-Bengali”. They always disrespect the icons and visionaries from West Bengal. They only use the word ‘Bangla’ during polls to get electoral benefit out of it,” the Chief Minister said.
According to CM Banerjee, she does not have any problem with the change of name for any other state.
“We are quite flexible in the matter. We do not have enmity with other states. We love all states. All that we want is that we should also be allowed to change the name of the state,” the Chief Minister said.
The main objection of the Union government regarding the renaming of “West Bengal” as “Bangla” was that the proposed name sounded somewhat similar to the neighbouring country Bangladesh.
Till now, the proposal from the West Bengal government regarding the name change had neither been endorsed nor been rejected officially.
(IANS)
