All political parties were unanimity on Wednesday, save one, on changing the name of West Bengal. But since it was a time-consuming process, another meeting would be held on August 19 to discuss the matter.

The first such suggestion for a change in nomenclature of the State was mooted in 1974 during the Congress regime and later in 1999 when Left Front was in power, Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, told a press meet after an all-party meeting decided on the issue.

“But, no concrete decision was taken, though the media had suggested many names which were just gossip,” she said.

Since the change in name would require time and many political leaders also wanted it, she said, “I have called another all-party meeting on August 19 in my chamber in the Assembly for further discussion on this issue.”

Ms Banerjee said that she had given the responsibility of suggesting names to the Leader of the House, Mr Partha Chatterjee, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Suryakanta Mishra. “If they so feel, they can consult intellectuals and linguists,” she said.

Trinamool Congress ally, SUCI (C) represented by Mr Soumen Basu, however, later told reporters that there was no need to change the name of West Bengal. “What is the need of changing the state's name and deny its historical importance?” he asked.

The meeting, attended by nine political parties having representatives in Assembly, also discussed the need to bifurcate Burdwan, Jalpaiguri, West Midnapore and North 24 Parganas districts for administrative convenience. Ms Banerjee said that new proposals had been received for reorganising Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas districts.

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