Bengal Statehood Day likely to get assembly greenlight next month

A proposal for declaring Polia Boishakh  (Bengali New Year’s Day) as the Statehood Day for West Bengal is likely to be passed in the state Assembly next month.

Sources from the ruling Trinamool Congress indicated that a proposal on this count is likely to be moved on the floor of the Assembly on September 4.

They added that there is a possibility of the government moving a motion for a state song on the lines of the national song on the floor of the house on the same day. There will be an all-party meeting at the state secretariat of Nabanna at 4.30 p.m. on August 29, where all recognised parties have been invited. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will chair the meeting.

Besides the Chief Minister,  state Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay is also believed to be keen on having a separate state song of West Bengal.

States that already have a state song include Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, among others.

However, the principal opposition party in the state, BJP is against celebrating Bengali New Year’s Day as the Statehood Day for West Bengal, instead they prefer to celebrate the West Bengal Foundation Day on June 20.

This year there had been a tussle between the state government and the Raj Bhavan after Governor C.V. Ananda Bose celebrated West Bengal Foundation Day within the Governor’s House premises on June 20.

Bose emphasised on the 'zero tolerance' for violence and called for the right of the people to vote freely. He said in the Raj Bhawan, “I'm dedicated to the well-being and welfare of the people. Bengal has immense potential and is loaded with talents," according to the NDTV report.

The development attracted scathing criticisms from the chief minister who said that she is stunned at the decision of the Governor on this count. She even sent a communiqué to the Governor, claiming that since inception, the people of West Bengal have never rejoiced, commemorated, or celebrated any day as the foundation day of West Bengal.

With Inputs from IANS