State Assembly passes resolution to observe Bengali new year, Poila Baisakh, as Bengal Day

Nobel laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore’s Banglar Mati Banglar Jol has been adopted as the state’s anthem

PTI, KOLKATA, SEPT 7, 2023 : The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to observe Polia Baisakh - Bengali New Year Day - as the state day with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserting that the day will be observed regardless of the approval of the Governor with whom the Chief Minister has been engaged in a war of words. 

The resolution was passed with 167 members voting in favour of it or 73 per cent of those voting and present. Sixty-two MLAs of the BJP, which wants to observe June 20, the day the Bengal Assembly voted in favour of partition as the state day, voted against it, while the lone ISF MLA abstained. 

The resolution under Rule 169 was tabled in the Assembly, proposing to observe Poila Baisakh, as "Bangla Diwas" and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's 'Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol' (Bengal's soil, Bengal's water) as the state song. "I support the proposal of making Rabindranath Tagore's ''Banglar Mati Banglar Jol' the official song of Bengal. 

People of Bengal don't support June 20, which is synonymous with violence and bloodshed which marked partition as the state foundation day," Mamata said while speaking on the resolution. 

Pointing out that her party was opposed to the BJP's demand, the Chief Minister said: "If we don't oppose it, this day (June 20) would be established as the state foundation day. That is why we decided to bring this resolution. There has never been any precedence of observing this date as the foundation day." 

Mamata had last week said the Centre's choice of June 20 as the state's foundation day was "wrong" and the day for observing the occasion would be decided in the Assembly. She had convened an all-party meeting last month to seek an opinion on the issue. However, the meeting was boycotted by the BJP, Congress and the CPM. 

On June 20, 1947, MLAs from the western part of Bengal voted for partition of the province. This vote came after all legislators of united Bengal had by a majority decision voted to keep the British Indian province united. Reacting to Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's comment that the resolution will not receive Governor CV Ananda Bose's assent, the TMC supremo said: "If the Governor doesn't give his nod to this resolution of observing the state day on Poila Baisakh, we will still observe it". 

Later, while talking to reporters, the Chief Minister said the resolution doesn't need a nod from the Governor. "BJP leaders do not know Parliamentary norms. Only a Bill passed by the Assembly needs a nod from the Governor, this is not necessary in case of a resolution. We will just send a copy of the resolution to Raj Bhavan (for information)," she said. The BJP legislative party, which participated in the discussion, opposed the resolution, terming it as an "attempt to distort history". 

"Why did the West Bengal government, all of a sudden, decide to bring in a resolution on the issue? This is because June 20 is being observed as the state foundation day this year. This resolution would also have the same fate just like the name change of the state, the resolution against BSF and many others," Adhikari said. 

After the resolution was passed, the BJP staged a walkout from the Assembly. Following the passage of the resolution, the song, 'Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol' was sung by Mamata and other TMC MLAs in the House. Later, the national anthem was also sung by the MLAs in the House.