The West Bengal assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to observe Bengali New Year's Day, also known as Polia Baisakh, as the state's foundation day on April 15. This comes after chief minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that the day will be observed regardless of the approval of the state's governor.
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The resolution - under Rule 169 proposing to observe Poila Baisakh as ‘Bangla Diwas’ and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's 'Banglar Mat, Banglar Jol' (Bengal's soil, Bengal's Water) as the state song - was passed with 167 members voting in favour of it in a House of 294 members. On the other hand, 62 BJP MLAs - who want to observe the state's foundation day on June 20 - voted against the resolution.
Notably, on June 20, 1947, MLAs from West Bengal voted for partition, which was celebrated as Bengal Day.
Speaking to the media, Mamata Banerjee said, “I support the proposal of making Rabindranath Tagore's 'Banglar Mati Banglar Jol' the official song of Bengal.”
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Hitting out at the BJP, she said, “People of Bengal don't support June 20, which is synonymous with violence and bloodshed which marked partition as the state foundation day,” reported news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}Hitting out at the BJP, she said, “People of Bengal don't support June 20, which is synonymous with violence and bloodshed which marked partition as the state foundation day,” reported news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}Last week, Banerjee had said that the Centre's choice of June 20 as the state's foundation day is “wrong”.
BJP slams resolution
Meanwhile, several BJP leaders hit out at the West Bengal government's decision to bring a resolution in the state Assembly over Bangla Diwas.
BJP leader Agnimitra Paul slammed Mamata Banerjee saying, “She has a history of changing history.”
“…But we are not going to accept her history. June 20 is Bengal Diwas and we will stick to it," she said.