- Mamata Banerjee said Centre denies West Bengal's name change due to anti-Bengali bias
- She said she had raised the issue with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah but saw no progress
- Kerala assembly has passed a resolution to rename the state, which has been approved by the Union ministry
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, congratulating Kerala on its name change, said today that despite her best efforts, the Centre is not allowing a change of name for her state since it is anti-Bengal.
Declaring that she has raised the issue whenever she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, she said, "Much to my surprise, nothing has happened".
"I think they are not approving it because they are anti-Bengali. They disrespect the icons and visionaries of Bengal. They only use the word 'Bangla' during polls to get electoral benefit. That is why they have not given the approval to rename the state," she said.
The Chief Minister, though, expressed hope that the name of the state will be changed when the BJP is no longer in power.
In a big decision before the assembly election in Kerala, the Union cabinet approved a proposal to rename the state as Keralam. The state assembly has already passed a resolution to change the name in official records.
Banerjee said she has tried multiple times to change the name of West Bengal to "Bangla".
"I too face the same problem. I get the chance to speak at the end as I am the Chief Minister of West Bengal... Based on the culture of the state, we wanted to rename West Bengal as Bangla. In this regard, we have passed resolutions twice in the Legislative Assembly," she said.
As for Kerala, she said the state has been renamed since there is an "alliance" growing between the BJP and the state's ruling CPM.
"The alliance is not unwritten anymore after today. Why will Bengal face deprivation always? One day, you (the BJP) will not be in power. We will get the name changed," she added.
