Mamata slams Centre for delay on Bengal’s name change proposal

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has lashed out at the Centre for ignoring the state’s proposal to change its name to Bangla and alleged that it had become a victim of petty politics.

The state Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on July 26 this year recommending the name change, after which the proposal was sent to the Union home ministry.

“They are changing names of places unilaterally without consulting anybody. However, our proposal was passed unilaterally in the state Assembly. Yet they are sitting on it,” Banerjee told a section of the media. She said she had raised the issue with Union home minister Rajnath Singh many times.

“Recently, I have been noticing that almost every day BJP has been changing the names of historical places and institutions unilaterally to suit their own political vested interests... But, in respect of Bengal, the attitude is totally different,” she wrote on Facebook.

The BJP’S recent proposals to change the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj and Faizabad to Ayodhya have got the go-ahead.

For changing the name of a village or town, an executive order is needed. The renaming of a state requires amendment of the Constitution with a simple majority in Parliament.

Reacting to Banerjee’s allegation, Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said, “We hope the Centre does not approve the change, which is nothing but a ploy to make people forget the history of Bengal’s bifurcation and the role of Communists and Congress behind it... The state will gain nothing but Mamata Banerjee’s party intends to gain by making people forget the contribution of Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s contribution to the creation of West Bengal..”.