Bengal, Bangla or Banga? What should be West Bengal's name?

New Delhi, Jul 7: It's hardly been a couple of months since West Bengal saw a change of government after 34 years under the Communist rule and as things are shaping out now, it might also get rechristened to avoid coming last in the all-state meets.

If anyone thought, this as a joke, then hold your breaths as this is what might soon happen. [UPDATE: Find out the new name of West Bengal]

Partha Chatterjee, Industries Minister in the government of West Bengal has been quoted by CNN-IBN as saying, "We have seen in all state meets that our turn comes right at the end, we face grave problems. In fact people doze off when our turn comes. So changing a name will be better."

So what could be the possible names that could bring it to the top list of Indian states in alphabetical order? If the focus is on catering to the linguistic demands of the state's population, then probably Bangla or even Banga would be the most appropriate ones.

If it is about being acceptability, then Bengal would top the list as it is the name that the state has had since the British days and is how people around the world recognise it.

Reports inform that the new name will be decided after a consultation process with the Opposition parties and the civil society. Coming to the Opposition, the Left parties it seems have no problem with the government's plans as they had during the rule, wanted a name change on the same grounds and even passed resolutions in the state Assembly. But alas no result was achieved.

Biman Bose, Chairman of the Left Front was quoted by CNN-IBN as saying, "This was decided by the earlier Left Front governments. So no question of opposing what the new government is thinking."

OneIndia News