Calcutta reborn as Kolikata
The assembly of the Indian state of West Bengal has
unanimously voted to change the name of the state to
Bangla and to rename the city of Calcutta as Kolikata.
The move ends a fifty year legacy of British imperialism -
Calcutta was the former capital of the British Indian
empire.
The BBC correspondent in Calcutta says there has
rarely been such unanimity on display among the
political parties in Bengal.
However, our correspondent says public opinion is
divided.
Critics of the left-wing state government see it as an
attempt to distract attention from inadequate economic
development. The Indian cities of Bombay and Madras
have already changed their names to Mumbai and
Chennai. Mumbai is the Marathi name of Bombay and Chennai is the Tamil name of Madras.