Calcutta’s name was changed to Kolkata on this day.
The state government had decided to make the change as the city’s name was pronounced in Bengali as Kolkata and also to shed a colonial name.
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One of the prime movers behind the rename campaign had been the then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
In this context, some again felt that history cannot be erased. Writer Annada Shankar Roy, who was also Bangiya Bhasa Parishad chairperson then, had told this paper: “I am not in favour of changing the spelling of a name which has been in existence for 300 years.”
Some institutions continue with the name Calcutta, such as Calcutta High Court and Calcutta University.