Kolkata, February 24 – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated on Tuesday that the renaming of Kerala, which is governed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), was due to an understanding between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also exists in the form of a covert political agreement in West Bengal.
"The renaming of Kerala was possible because of the agreement between the BJP and CPI-M, which also exists in West Bengal. However, our proposal to rename 'West Bengal' as 'Bangla' was not accepted. Nevertheless, I will ensure that the name of West Bengal is changed," the Chief Minister said while speaking to the media.
According to Chief Minister Banerjee, she proposed the name change for West Bengal, taking into account the state's culture, history, thought process, and philosophy.
"The proposal was also passed in the West Bengal Assembly multiple times. However, the Union government did not endorse the proposal. When our students take national-level examinations or interviews, they are called at the end because the name of the state begins with 'W', which appears at the end in the English alphabet. I also face the same problem when I speak at any conference as the state Chief Minister," she said.
According to the West Bengal Chief Minister, in the past, several state governments' proposals to change the names of their respective states were approved by the Union government.
"However, only we (West Bengal) were deprived," she added.
However, at the same time, she congratulated the people of Kerala over the change of name of the state.
She also claimed that in the past, she had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the proposal to rename "West Bengal" as "Bangla".
"But those discussions did not yield results, as they are 'anti-Bengal' and 'anti-Bengali'. They always disrespect the icons and visionaries from West Bengal. They only use the word 'Bangla' during elections to gain electoral benefits," the Chief Minister said.
According to Chief Minister Banerjee, she does not have any problem with the renaming of any other state.
"We are quite flexible in this matter. We do not have any enmity with other states. We love all states. All that we want is that we should also be allowed to change the name of the state," the Chief Minister said.
The main objection of the Union government regarding the renaming of "West Bengal" as "Bangla" was that the proposed name sounded somewhat similar to the neighboring country Bangladesh.
Till now, the proposal from the West Bengal government regarding the name change had neither been endorsed nor rejected officially.