State name to remain West Bengal, Centre discards ‘Bangla’

The dream of referring West Bengal as ‘Bangla’ will probably remain a dream. Today, the Central Government declared that the name of West Bengal cannot be changed right now. It has also further stated that the name of the state can only be changed if certain amendments in the constitution are made, which as per them is impossible. 

It has been years that the partition of Bengal took place. Bangladesh is not called East Bengal anymore. But our state is still called ‘West Bengal’ keeping the signs of the partition alive. In the year 2016, a bill was proposed in the state assembly by the state government demanding the change of the name of the state to Bangla in Bengali, Bengal in English and 'Bangal' in Hindi. Back then, the central government asked the state to finalize one name instead of three names and send a new proposal. On July 26, 2018, a bill was again passed in the state assembly which demanded the name of the state to be changed to ‘Bangla.’ The proposal was sent to the Union Home Ministry for final approval. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her discontentment regarding the rejection of the name. Many also think that the rejection of the name is a blatant disregard to the state assembly. The rejection of the proposal has given rise to many questions which however remain unanswered.