In some cases, the decision was to reverse the colonial legacy; in others, it was meant to be in consonance with local pronouncement. Kolkata is a direct transliteration of Bengali pronunciation of Calcutta; Mumbai, on the other hand, is connected to an obscure deity, known as Mumba Devi. Curiously, Chennai, derived from some ancient land deeds in Telugu, has replaced the Tamil-Origin name of Madras. In all cases, there has been no doubt a desire to displace the colonial names despite the fact that these cities own their development to English trading initiative.

Now come to the more immediate issue of the demand for changing the name of West Bengal to Bengal. The immediate concern for this demand seems to have been the inter-state council meeting where, because of sheer alphabetical order , the state’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, was last to speak. As the names go, Bengal is not such a bad choice; Banga or Bangla are equally acceptable.

Earlier, India was divided in princely states. The English rulers named cities and towns to suit their convenience. At that time West Bengal was simply named as Bengal. When Bengal was divided its eastern part came to be known as Pakistan’s East Bengal. After the state’s liberation, it was called Bangladesh.

The Left Front’s Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in 2011 changed the name Calcutta to Kolkata. Now there is a move to change the name of the state—West Bengal. For this a special session of the state assembly is being convened and a resolution to this effect adopted and forwarded to Centre of necessary action.

So far names of some states changed are on these lines. Madras presidency became Tamil Nadu; Mumbai state became Maharashtra; Mysore became Karnataka; Tranvancore and Cochin was changed to Kerala; Orissa was changed to Odisha; central province or Madhya Bharat became Madhya Pradesh.

As a matter of fact, change of name of a city or state is an emotional matter and it creates no difficulty. When Shivsena—BJP combine came to power in Maharashtra, the Sena Supremo Bala Saheb Thackeray changed name of Bombay to Mumbai. According to arguments at time the goddess of Mumbai was Bumba Devi. So Bombay became Mumbai.

Generally, new names of cities or towns are derived after some legends. Like Baroda’s name was changed to Vadodara. It is said this name is associated with Bargad tree. Earlier name of Thiruvananthapuram was Trivandrum. Spelling of Kanpur was changed; earlier it was known as Cownpore. Mysore is, perhaps, the only city whose name was derived from a Demon—Mahishasur. The demon was killed by Chamundashwari Devi. Now demand is being made to change the names of some cities. These are in BJP-ruled states. It is being suggested that Bhopal be named Bhojpal. Some leaders in the BJP want that Ahmedabad be renamed Karnawti. (IPA Service)