From Karl Marx Sarani To Ho Chih Minh Sarani: Kolkata’s Communist-Era Street Names May Soon Be Changed

The West Bengal government has planned to examine proposals to rename popular streets and bridges in the state. A 10-member committee has been set to change the names of Lenin Sarani, Ho Chih Minh Sarani and Karl Marx Sarani. According to a Kolkata Municipal Corporation official, no decision has been made yet, and names would be finalised after relevant recommendations made by the committee members.

The panel, which would be headed by Swami Pradiptananda, also known as Kartik Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram, is likely to hold its first meeting after Durga Puja. Proposals to rename roads in Kolkata are likely to be taken up at that meeting.

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Other prominent members include former Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy, Chief Minister's adviser Subrata Gupta and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey.

Taking to reporters, Kartik Maharaj said that the panel would examine the names after whom the roads have been named, keeping in mind the significance of the Bengali culture and heritage. "Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Lenin Sarani and Karl Marx Sarani will be renamed. Proposals have also been received for changing the names of other roads," he said. Kartik Maharaj added that the committee's recommendations would later be sent to the state Assembly.

What Names Have Been Suggested?

Speaking to reporters, Roy claimed that Lenin Sarani should be renamed after Debaprasad Ghosh, who was a mathematician and former Bharatiya Jana Sangh president. He also proposed that Karl Marx Sarani in Kidderpore be named after Bengali poets Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, citing their links to the area. For Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Roy suggested the name of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

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Earlier, Lenin Street was known as the Dharmatala Street. During the celebrations of Lenin’s birth centenary in 1970, the road was renamed. Circular Garden Reach Road was renamed Karl Marx Sarani the following year.

Will Lenin Statue Be Removed?

Roy, who served as the BJP State Chief, suggested that the Lenin Statue should be removed from the crossing of Jawaharlal Nehru Road and Sidhho-Kanhu Dahar. He said that the street should rather be renamed after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Roy has also suggested that some places named after Muslim “communalists” be renamed after personalities he described as "nationalist Muslims". Among the names he proposed were writer Qazi Abdul Wadud, educationist Begum Rokeya and author S Wajed Ali as alternatives for the Titumir-named bus stand in Barasat near Kolkata. Biswa Bangla Sarani is to be renamed as Sri Krishna Chaitanysa Avenue.

The proposed exercise has raised questions over whether changing long-established names could erase or alter parts of Kolkata's political and cultural history.