West Bengal may soon be renamed ‘West Banga’:BJP state president says govt will introduce bill during ongoing Assembly session

The West Bengal government may soon introduce a bill in the state Assembly to rename the state ‘West Banga’, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said in Kolkata on Monday. Bhattacharya said the bill could be brought during the ongoing Assembly session. He said the proposed name was intended to reflect the state’s history and Bengali identity. The BJP leader made the remarks while responding to questions about the proposed West Banga Bhavan in Varanasi. He said there would no longer be a need to use names such as “Bangla” or “West Bengal” if the new name is approved. West Banga Bhavan planned in Varanasi Bhattacharya said the state’s Culture and Tourism Department, in coordination with the Centre and descendants of the Cooch Behar royal family, has planned to establish West Banga Bhavan in Varanasi. The proposed facility will serve as a cultural centre for Bengal and provide accommodation to tourists and pilgrims travelling from the state. He said Varanasi has longstanding cultural and spiritual links with Bengal and has had a significant Bengali presence for generations. The city’s first women’s college was established by a Bengali, while several schools there cater to Bengali students. The Cooch Behar royal family laid the foundation stone of Banaras Kalibari in 1836, and two temples were built at the site a decade later. The proposed West Banga Bhavan will include a conference hall, library and a collection of Bengali literature and music. It will also have parking facilities and accommodation for pilgrims. The centre is also expected to provide a venue for social and cultural programmes organised by Bengalis who have lived in Varanasi for several generations. Earlier attempts to change West Bengal’s name The demand to rename West Bengal dates back to 1999, when the Jyoti Basu-led Left Front government proposed changing the state’s name to West Bang. The debate later shifted towards the name Bangla. The Left Front government accepted the proposal and sent it to the Centre, arguing that the existing name had colonial-era origins and that a new name should better reflect the state’s Bengali identity. However, the proposal failed to move forward as it did not receive the required political consensus or approval from the Central Government. Mamata government revived the issue The issue resurfaced after the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011. The Mamata Banerjee government initially proposed Paschim Banga as the state’s new name. The government also argued that the name “West Bengal” placed the state near the bottom of the alphabetical list in English, allegedly causing its representatives to wait longer to speak at national meetings. An all-party meeting supported the proposal in 2011, but it did not receive approval from the Centre. In 2016, the state government revived the renaming process and proposed three names, Bangla, Bengal and Bengal — for use in Bengali, English and Hindi respectively. In 2018, the state Assembly unanimously passed a resolution proposing Bangla as the state’s sole name. The Centre, however, rejected the proposal, saying a constitutional amendment would be required. Some BJP leaders in the state had also opposed the proposed Bengali name, arguing that “Bangla” could create confusion because of its similarity to the name of neighbouring Bangladesh. ​