Bill Likely Soon to Rename West Bengal as Paschim Banga

CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Kolkata. The move to rename West Bengal has gathered pace once again. State BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya said on Monday that the state government may introduce a bill in the next session of the Assembly to rename the state as “Paschim Banga”. He said the proposed name was linked to the state’s history and identity.

According to Shamik Bhattacharya, the objective behind naming the state “Paschim Banga” is to connect it with its historical context. He also referred to the earlier attempt to name the state “Bangla” and said the government was now preparing to take forward the name “Paschim Banga”. After the bill is passed in the Assembly, it will require the Centre’s approval under the constitutional process.

The issue of changing West Bengal’s name is not new. In 1999, the Left Front government led by Jyoti Basu had placed a proposal in the Assembly to change the state’s name from “West Bengal” to “Paschim Banga”. Later, the name “Bangla” was also discussed, but political consensus could not be reached on the proposal and approval from the Centre was not granted.

After this, the government led by Mamata Banerjee also initiated steps several times to rename the state. In 2018, the Assembly passed a resolution in favour of the name “Bangla”, but the change could not be implemented as the Centre did not grant approval. Now, a proposal for the name “Paschim Banga” has come from the BJP-led state government. The final decision on the name change will depend on the Assembly process and, after that, the constitutional approval of the central government.

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