West Bengal likely to be named ‘Bangla’

The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday has passed a resolution to change the name of the state to 'Bangla' from West Bengal.

The resolution will now be sent to the Home Ministry for approval. If the Home Ministry approves the resolution, the state's name will be officially changed to 'Bangla'.

In August 2016, the West Bengal government had passed a resolution giving three names to the state; Bengal in English, Bangla in Bengali and Bangal in Hindi. But the Home Ministry had turned down the resolution feeling uncomfortable with the idea of a state having three names.

As a result, in September 8, 2017, the state cabinet passed a fresh resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla' which had been passed in the Assembly on Thursday.

Previously in 2011, the state government had failed to rename the state as 'Paschim Bango', as the proposal failed to get the Centre's approval.