Differences cropped up between Trinamool Congress and opposition over renaming of West Bengal

KOLKATA: The ruling Trinamool Congress and Opposition parties in West Bengal on Thursday differed over the state government's plan to rename West Bengal to "Bangla".

While the BJP said that it will oppose the move, the Congress has demanded the setting up of a commission comprising intellectuals, academicians and people from all walks of life to discuss the issue.

The Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Biman Banerjee had convened an all-party meeting during the day to discuss the issue, where the BJP state president and party MLA Dilip Ghosh said they were opposing the move.

Ghosh said Mamata Banerjee's government is trying to tamper with the history of Bengal's partition by proposing to drop the word "West" from it. "We are opposing the move and will write to the Centre not to accept the name change," he said.

The Congress argued that only a handful of MLAs can't take such an important decision. “We will have to consider the sentiment of our people before changing the name of a state. We have urged the speaker to set up a commission for the purpose,” Opposition leader and Congress MLA Abdul Mannan said on Thursday.

The CPIM too differed with the government's decision, saying that it is done in a hurried manner. The Speaker Banerjee, however, said that "a discussion will take place in the state Assembly on August 29". Banerjee has convened a special session of the state Assembly which will start on August 26.