The West Bengal assembly has 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.
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.
People of Bengal don’t support June 20, which is synonymous with violence and bloodshed which marked partition as the state foundation day.
