Mamata Banerjee Leads Resounding Endorsement of Poila Baisakh as Bengal's Founding Day

Tuesday's event, presided over by Mamata Banerjee, saw a resounding endorsement of Poila Baisakh as Bengal's founding day by members of the state's commerce, academics, sports, and religious organizations as well as a few fringe political factions.

The Centre's efforts to enforce June 20 as the statehood day were overwhelmingly rejected by them.

The chief minister, clearly pleased with the turnout, said that her party will present the proposal in accordance with the talks taken in the Nabanna auditorium on Tuesday night when the state Assembly met.

The Speaker of the Assembly (Biman Banerjee), who also heard it, said, "The opinion we received from you today is extremely significant to us. When the Assembly meets on September 7, we will present this, Mamata remarked, thanking the attendees for their input.

After describing how Lord Mountbatten revealed his partition proposal on June 3, 1947, and the Congress Working Committee subsequently endorsed it, historian and former Trinamul MP Sugato Bose said that June 20 was a "sad footnote" in history. In a piece for Press Time, Bose said that on June 20, 1947, the lawmakers of east Bengal voted against partition by 106 votes to 35, while the legislators of west Bengal voted in favor of division by 58 votes to 21.

Bose had argued that Mountbatten's designs had allowed for partition to proceed if any one party wished to, shattering the ideal of the freedom warriors of a unified Bengal.

"On June 20, nothing occurred.... He urged during the conference that we had to choose another auspicious day as the foundation day.

Other speakers at the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, including the historian Nrisinha Prasad Bhadur and the poet Joy Goswami, suggested different dates for the statehood celebration, including Poila Baisakh, December 12 and August 19, while the chief minister listened politely and took notes.

The Union Home Ministry's message, which announced the Center's intention to recognize June 20 as Bengal's founding day and led Raj Bhavan to host a program that day, served as the impetus for the gathering.

Then, Mamata reacted angrily, criticizing the Centre for making such a move without first consulting the state.

After becoming aware of the planned event at Raj Bhavan, Mamata wrote to the governor C.V. Ananda Bose to request that no celebrations be held on June 20.

"Without more delay, we had to call this meeting. The chief minister criticized the Centre's "unilateral attempts" to designate June 20 as Bengal's foundation day on Tuesday. "If they hadn't, they would have institutionalized this illegality and made it (observing June 20 as state foundation day) a permanent arrangement," he added.

Mamata called an all-party conference and invitations were extended to all significant political parties in Bengal as part of an effort to thwart the move because she wanted to reach an agreement on the subject. All major political parties avoided the Nabanna auditorium on Tuesday, despite a few tiny organizations being there.

All parties were asked in order for them to express their opinions and I wanted to hear from everyone, so they might have come, Mamata remarked.

The chief minister's main goal, according to a source close to her, was achieved despite the absence of her political opponents because she felt that the emotional topic she brought up could help rally support for her and further demonstrate the BJP's disconnection from Bengal.

Another suggestion made by the attendees—a state anthem—came up during the conference. Several ideas were put up, including Tagore's Banglar Mati and Banglar Jol, D.L. Roy's Dhanadhannye Pushpe Bhora, and a potential song by Mamata.

Mamata invited everyone to submit their ideas to Alapan Bandyopadhay, her main advisor and former chief secretary.