Thaindian News

Kolkata, Aug 18 (IANS) West Bengal’s opposition Left Front (LF) Thursday said it favoured a change in the nomenclature of the state and reorganisation of some districts but the changes must be effected only after considering the opinion of all stakeholders.

“We are in favour of not only the reorganisation of the districts but also the change of name of the state. But the changes must be done only after seeking opinion of the people who will be affected by the change. It is a sensitive issue. Therefore an all party meeting must be held at the district level so that the people concerned may voice their opinion,” said LF chairman Biman Bose after a meeting of the Front.

The state government under the stewardship of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has proposed a change of name of the state to do away with problems that arise due to its current name which starts with ‘W’ rendering it at the lower rung of the alphabetical order. This results in the state’s representatives getting a chance to speak only after all other states in official meetings.

The government has also proposed to reorganise the bigger districts of the state for better governance. An all-party meeting has been called Friday to discuss the changes. This is the second such meeting.

Bose said the LF was not at all concerned with the nomenclature but reiterated that the opinion of the people must be considered before taking any decision on the proposed changes.

“Though seeking and considering the views of all will be a time consuming affair, it is important to get the views as it is a sensitive issue.”

Bose said the alliance also had no issues with the new names suggested by the government.

“The names that have been suggested are Bangla, Bangabhoomi/Gour Banga and Pashchim Bangla. We have no issues with them. In fact when we had proposed the name change in 1999, the name that came up was Bangla among others,” he recalled.