Last Updated:
While congratulating the “brothers and sisters of Kerala” for their name change success, CM Mamata Banerjee once again drew attention to the renaming of West Bengal to ‘Bangla’
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee condemned what she called the BJP-led Centre’s political double standards and its “anti-Bengali” stance. (Image: PTI/File)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday condemned what she called the BJP-led Centre’s political double standards and its “anti-Bengali” stance, soon after the Union cabinet’s approval of Kerala’s renaming to ‘Keralam’.
Banerjee said the long-pending name change proposal for West Bengal to ‘Bangla’ remains stalled and the state continues to suffer from an alphabetical disadvantage, which causes professional hurdles for its people. By renaming the state, it will jump from the bottom of the list to the fourth position, following Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.
While congratulating the “brothers and sisters of Kerala” for their success, Banerjee once again drew attention to the renaming of West Bengal.
“I would like to congratulate the brothers and sisters of Kerala on the decision to rename the state as ‘Keralam’. The names of several states are changed once such proposals are endorsed by the respective state governments. However, the same has not been the case with West Bengal,” Banerjee said.
She added: “When our students go for exams or interviews, they are called at the end since the name of the state begins with ‘W’, which is towards the end of the alphabet. I, too, face the same problem and my chance to speak always comes at the end as I am the chief minister of West Bengal.”
Banerjee said the push to rename the state is deeply rooted in a desire to better reflect Bengal’s cultural identity and move past the historical legacy of the 1947 Partition.
“Based on the culture of the state, we wanted to rename West Bengal as Bangla. In this regard, we have passed resolutions twice in the legislative assembly. After we were told that the name of the state should be the same in Hindi, Bengali and English, we passed a resolution again to rename the state as Bangla in all three languages,” she said.
Experts have argued that the prefix “West” is an obsolete reminder of a painful era, particularly as “East Bengal” no longer exists, having become East Pakistan and subsequently the independent nation of Bangladesh.
ALSO READ | Keralam Loading: How Constitution Governs Kerala’s Renaming | Explained
‘ANTI-BENGALI, GROWING ALLIANCE BETWEEN BJP & CPIM’
Banerjee took a swipe at the BJP, accusing the party of being “anti-Bengali”. She alleged that despite raising the issue repeatedly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, no action has been taken.
“They disrespect the icons and visionaries of Bengal. They only use the word ‘Bangla’ during polls to get electoral benefit,” she said.
She claimed the approval of Kerala’s name change is due to a growing alliance between the BJP and CPIM. “Kerala has been renamed since there is an alliance growing between the BJP and the CPIM,” she said, adding that the partnership is “not unwritten anymore”.
The chief minister questioned why Bengal must always face deprivation and expressed confidence that in future the name change will be a success.
“One day, you [BJP] will not be in power. We will get the name changed,” she added.
WHAT IS HISTORY OF THE ‘BANGLA’ DEMAND?
1999: The journey to rename West Bengal dates back to 1999, when the Jyoti Basu-led Left Front government was in power. A resolution to rename the state ‘Bangla’ – ironically suggested by Saugata Roy, then a Congress MLA – was unanimously passed. The then NDA government stalled the move, citing potential confusion with the neighbouring country of Bangladesh.
2011: Upon coming to power for the first time in 2011, Mamata Banerjee’s government proposed the name ‘Paschimbanga’ to be used across all languages, but this was also stalled at the central level.
2016: The state proposed a unique three-name solution in 2016: ‘Bangla’ in Bengali, ‘Bengal’ in English, and ‘Bangal’ in Hindi. The Centre, however, rejected this on the grounds that a single state cannot have multiple official names in different languages.
2018: Following the Centre’s feedback, the Bengal assembly passed a fresh resolution in July 2018 to rename the state simply to ‘Bangla’ in all three languages. But nothing has been done on that count, with the central government citing concerns over phonetic similarity to Bangladesh in international forums.
February 24, 2026, 19:41 IST
Read More
