Identity politics: Rename West Bengal to 'Bangla', says Trinamool MP

This comes at a time when Mamata Banerjee has raised the issue of Bengali identity as a means to counter the BJP's increasing influence in the state

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy on Thursday demanded in the House that West Bengal be renamed Bangla in three languages — Bengali, English, and Hindi — in deference to Bengali identity. At a time when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has raised the issue of Bengali identity as a means to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s increasing influence in the state, Roy said the West Bengal Assembly in July last year had passed a resolution to change the state’s name and it was pending with the Centre. Roy said it seemed the Centre was “not keen”