CPI backs Mamata govt on decision to rename state as Bengal

The Communist Party of India, for a change, is on the same page as the Trinamool Congress government on the issue of renaming the state as 'Bengal', saying the move reflected reality.
"We agree. It's alright. No problem," CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy told PTI on the West Bengal government's proposal to change the name of the state.
The West Bengal Cabinet yesterday took up a proposal to rename the state as 'Bengal' in English and 'Bango' or 'Bangla' in Bengali.
"Now we are giving a new proposal and will convene a special session of the Assembly on August 26 to pass a resolution to this effect," state minister Partha Chatterjee said in Kolkata yesterday.

Reddy said: "Earlier West Bengal and East Bengal in the undivided India...It was kept because it was separate entities in Bengal. Now, it's a normal affair (to change the name). I don't think there is any objection to it."
"It's a normal method. Unnecessarily the name (West) was kept in the post-independence period, and it continued like that. Now changing the name is alright. Nothing special. The decision is alright. It reflects the reality," he said.
Giving the example of states like Odisha and cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, Chatterjee said yesterday the word 'Bengal' has a deep connection with the state's culture and heritage.

Another reason for changing the name is that whenever there is a meeting of all states, West Bengal figures at the bottom of the list prepared in alphabetical order.