MoS Nityanand Rai confirms receiving proposal on renaming West Bengal to 'Bangla'

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai on Wednesday confirmed about the Centre receiving a proposal for renaming the state of West Bengal to 'Bangla.' The MoS Home for Home Affairs informed that the process of renaming would require the constitution to be amended, after considering all relevant factors.

"During the period from January 1, 2017, to February 28, 2020, sixty-seven proposals for change in the name of city/town/village were received. 'No objection' in respect to fifty-two proposals have been issued to the State Government/Union Territory concerned. Fourteen proposals for change of name of city/town/villages are currently under consideration and one proposal was not agreed to," Rai stated while responding in the Rajya Sabha. 

"The proposal for change in the name of only one state namely, West Bengal to "Bangla" was received. Change in the name of a state requires a constitutional amendment, after taking into consideration all relevant factors," the MoS's reply added. 

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The request has been denied thrice before

Earlier in 2018, the Central government had declined Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's demand to rename West Bengal to Bangla, citing constitutional amendment to be the reason. The West Bengal Assembly had earlier unanimously passed a resolution to change the state's name to Bangla in three languages -- Bengali, English, and Hindi.

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Even in 2016, the West Bengal government’s proposal of having three names — Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi) was rejected by the Central government. In 2011 also, the state government’s proposed name of ‘Paschim Bango’ was rejected by the Centre.

Back In 2018, CM Mamata Banerjee had stated that if not 3 names, the Centre should go ahead and pass the resolution for the name 'Bangla.'

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