West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused a "section of BJP leaders" of not allowing to change the name of the state to 'Bangla'. She also accused the Centre of "depriving" the state.
"We have been trying since 2003, but till date, it has not happened. Why is Bengal being deprived? all the languages should be respected," Banerjee said on the floor of the house. "A section of BJP leaders is opposing the change of name.
She called the move politically motivated and also added that she has written a letter regarding the matter.
On Wednesday, she wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the process of changing the state's name to Bangla.
She also urged for a necessary action including a constitutional amendment in the ongoing Parliament session. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in a written response to a question from MP Ritabrata Banerjee on Wednesday said the Centre has not cleared the name 'Bangla' for West Bengal.
He said that changing a state's name requires a constitutional amendment and it is done after taking into consideration all relevant factors
On 26th July last year, the West Bengal assembly had passed a resolution unanimously to change the name of the state to 'Bangla' in the three most-spoken languages, Bengali, Hindi, and English and sent the proposal to the union home ministry.