Kolkata, May 9 (PTI) West Bengal’s new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said his government would propose observing “West Bengal Day” on June 20 instead of Poila Baisakh, the Bengali New Year’s Day, which was chosen by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee.
Asserting that the date marked the historic decision for West Bengal’s inclusion in India in 1947, Adhikari told reporters: “I will definitely place this proposal before the cabinet and the Assembly.
On June 20, 1947, MLAs from West Bengal voted for partition, after a joint meeting with MLAs from East Bengal (which became East Pakistan) voted against the partition of the state.
After taking the oath as the chief minister during the day, Adhikari visited the residence of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Bhabanipur.
“In my mind, West Bengal’s foundation day should be June 20, 1947,” he said, adding that the people of the state were able to live in a “free democratic country” because West Bengal had voted to remain with India before Independence.
“It happened because of the efforts of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Bharat Sevashram Sangha founder Swami Pranabananda,” he said.
A controversy over the observance of “West Bengal Day” dates back to 2023, when Raj Bhavan celebrated the occasion on June 20 following a directive issued by the Centre to governors’ houses across the country to mark the foundation days of states.
The Central government had listed June 20 as “West Bengal Day”, triggering a confrontation between the then TMC government and Raj Bhavan which is now rechristened as Lok Bhavan.
The previous chief minister Mamata Banerjee had written to then-governor C V Ananda Bose, objecting to the date.
However, Raj Bhavan went ahead with the celebrations on June 20.
Subsequently, the then state government moved a resolution in the Assembly opposing the celebration of West Bengal Day on that date.
Banerjee had claimed that the people of Bengal don’t support June 20, which is synonymous with violence and bloodshed which marked partition as the state’s foundation day. PTI SUS NN
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