Bengal, Bangal, Bangla… Mamata renames her state in three languages

Kolkata, Aug 29: West Bengal to be renamed to ‘Bangla’ in Bengali, Bengal in English and ‘Bangal’ in Hindi, reports ANI.

After Calcutta changed into Kolkata, West Bengal is all set to be rechristened. After mulling on the idea for years, the state cabinet finally adopted the resolution to rename the state on Tuesday. After getting it ratified in a special meeting of the assembly it would be sent to the Centre for an approval by the houses of parliament.

Three different versions for a name will be a trifle difficult to remember, won’t it Didi?

That the state needs a change of name was a need felt long ago, during the Left Front rule, and the need was purely utilitarian in nature. Senior bureaucrats and politicians who used to attend meetings in Delhi where representatives of other states were present regularly complained that West Bengal appeared last in the deliberations thanks to the alphabetical order.

On a smaller level, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has enthusiastically taken to changing names in her state. She has changed the names of a number of metro stations such as Tollygunge, an important station, was rechristened as Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. Lee Road was named as Satyajit Ray Dharani. Arterial Eastern Metropolitan Bypass has been named as Biswa Bangla Sarani. Salt Lake stadium, the second largest stadium in the world was renamed as Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan.