West Bengal is on track to be renamed ‘Bangla’ with all parties in the state approving the name-change in the assembly on Thursday.
The new name needs the centre's clearance, according to bdnews24.com.
It will be ‘Bangla’ in all languages, according to a leader of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress, the NDTV reports. On this at least, the ruling party concurs with its rival Left, which had suggested the name in 1999.
Two years ago, a similar move had been stalled after the Mamata Banerjee government cleared a new name with three versions -- Bangla in Bengali, Bangaal in Hindi and Bengal in English. The centre suggested one uniform name.
Mamata Banerjee has been angling for a new name for her state for some time now. One of her reasons is that West Bengal comes last on state lists, which means the chief minister gets to speak last in meetings, or often not at all.
It may mean a bump up for the chief minister but the name ‘Bangla’ also has a downside.
Many Bengalis find it difficult to overlook the other meaning of the word; Bangla is a term used for local unbranded liquor, according to the NDTV report.
The state is currently called ‘Paschim Banga’ or ‘Paschim Bangla’ in Bengali.
In 2011, the previous Left government led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had cleared the renaming of the state to ‘Paschimbanga’. It was never cleared.