Why is it called West Bengal? Check out as Mamata Banerjee’s TMC wants to change state’s name to Bangla

Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) has urged renaming West Bengal to ‘Bangla’. MP Ritabrata Banerjee raised the issue in Rajya Sabha on February 4. The West Bengal Assembly passed the resolution in July 2018. However, the Centre has not approved it yet.

Ritabrata stated that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting a name change that aligns with the state’s history, culture and identity.

"Our state's name needs to be changed. The mandate of the people of West Bengal needs to be honoured," PTI quoted Ritabrata Banerjee as saying.

The last time the name of any state was changed was in 2011, when Orissa became Odisha. However, many cities have seen name changes over the years. These include Bombay, which was changed to Mumbai in 1995, Madras to Chennai in 1996, Calcutta to Kolkata in 2001 and Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014.

More recently, Uttar Pradesh has seen many name changes. Mughalsarai has become Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, Allahabad is now Prayagraj and Faizabad district was renamed Ayodhya district.

Why is it called West Bengal?

The name “West Bengal” comes from the 1905 partition of Bengal, when the British divided Bengal into East Bengal (Muslim majority) and West Bengal (Hindu majority). Although the partition was revoked in 1911, the name “West Bengal” remained for the western part of Bengal.

Bengal was again divided in 1947. The Indian side became West Bengal while the other side became East Pakistan. In 1971, East Pakistan gained independence, forming the nation of Bangladesh.

Arguments favouring West Bengal’s name change

Firstly, many people believe the name “West Bengal” no longer makes sense since “East Bengal” does not exist (except in football).

Some also claim that the change is expected to move West Bengal up alphabetically. In administrative meetings, speakers from West Bengal often get their turn late, when the audience is already exhausted and losing focus after long speeches.