Kolkata : Three prominent Kolkata roads named after international communist leaders — Lenin Sarani, Karl Marx Sarani and Ho Chi Minh Sarani — are among the public places being considered for renaming by a committee set up by the BJP government in West Bengal. The proposal has triggered a political debate over the city’s history, ideology and the role of public names in preserving historical memory.
The 10-member committee, headed by Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Kartik Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, is expected to take up the proposals after Durga Puja. Its recommendations will subsequently be sent to the state Assembly, while the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will have a role in the final decision.
Importantly, no final decision has yet been taken on changing the three road names. The proposals remain under consideration.
Three historic road names under review
The roads at the centre of the controversy are Lenin Sarani, Karl Marx Sarani and Ho Chi Minh Sarani.
Lenin Sarani, formerly known as Dharmatala Street, was renamed in 1970 to mark the birth centenary of Vladimir Lenin. The following year, Circular Garden Reach Road was renamed Karl Marx Sarani.
The names therefore form part of Kolkata’s political and cultural history and reflect the strong influence that communist thought and organisations once exercised in West Bengal.
The proposed review comes after a political change in the state and has raised questions about whether public places should retain names associated with international political figures or be renamed to honour Indian and Bengali personalities.
Alternative names suggested
BJP leader and former Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy has suggested several alternatives.
For Lenin Sarani, Roy has proposed the name of Debaprasad Ghosh, a mathematician and former president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
For Karl Marx Sarani in Kidderpore, he suggested the names of Bengali literary figures Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, citing their association with the area.
For Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Roy proposed the name of Martin Luther King Jr, the American civil rights leader.
Roy has also suggested naming an important Kolkata road after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The proposals, however, are recommendations rather than confirmed renamings.
Panel to meet after Durga Puja
The committee is expected to hold its first meeting after Durga Puja, when proposals relating to Kolkata’s roads and other public places are likely to be examined.
Apart from roads, the panel has been asked to consider proposals concerning bridges and other public spaces across West Bengal. The process could therefore extend beyond the three communist-linked roads.
The committee includes senior figures such as Tathagata Roy, Chief Minister’s adviser Subrata Gupta and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey.
The committee’s recommendations will eventually be forwarded for further consideration, meaning that the present discussion could still result in changes to the proposals before any official renaming takes place.
Proposal also extends to other names
The renaming exercise is not limited to communist leaders.
Roy has proposed changes involving some locations named after Muslim personalities, suggesting that certain places could instead honour figures he described as “nationalist Muslims”.
Among the names he mentioned were writer Qazi Abdul Wadud, educationist Begum Rokeya and author S Wajed Ali as possible alternatives for the Titumir-named bus stand in Barasat.
He has also suggested that certain Kolkata Metro stations could be named after the areas they serve rather than individuals, arguing that such names could be more convenient for commuters and residents.
The proposals indicate that the committee’s work could become a broader examination of how public infrastructure across the state is named.
Political opposition grows
The proposed changes have already attracted opposition from the Trinamool Congress and CPI(M).
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh criticised the proposal, describing it as an attempt to erase respect for people associated with different political philosophies. He said that ideological differences with communists should not necessarily lead to changing established names such as Lenin Sarani.
The CPI(M) is also expected to oppose any move to rename roads associated with communist leaders.
The controversy reflects the continuing political sensitivity surrounding Kolkata’s public spaces, many of which carry names connected with political movements, literary figures, social reformers and leaders from different periods of history.
Debate over history and public memory
Renaming public places can have practical and symbolic consequences.
Road names are used daily on addresses, maps, business records, transport information and official documents. They also become part of a city’s collective memory.
In Kolkata, names such as Lenin Sarani and Karl Marx Sarani are particularly significant because they reflect an important period in the political history of West Bengal.
Supporters of renaming may argue that public spaces should honour figures with stronger connections to Indian or Bengali history. Opponents, however, may view such changes as an attempt to remove uncomfortable or politically inconvenient chapters from the city’s past.
The debate therefore goes beyond the names themselves.
Final decision yet to be made
The present proposals should not be confused with completed administrative changes.
The committee has not yet finalised its recommendations, and the proposed names still require consideration by the relevant authorities. According to Tathagata Roy, the recommendations are expected after the Durga Puja period and will ultimately be subject to the appropriate decision-making process.
Until such a decision is formally made and implemented, Lenin Sarani, Karl Marx Sarani and Ho Chi Minh Sarani remain their existing official names.
The debate, however, has already reopened a larger question about how Kolkata chooses to represent its past.
A wider political and cultural debate
Kolkata has long been a city where politics, literature, social movements and cultural identity intersect. Its streets and public spaces reflect that layered history.
The proposed renaming of three roads associated with Lenin, Marx and Ho Chi Minh has brought those historical layers back into the political spotlight.
Whether the names ultimately change will depend on the committee’s recommendations and subsequent decisions by the authorities. But the discussion itself illustrates how the names attached to public spaces can become powerful symbols in India’s changing political landscape.
For now, the proposed renamings remain under review, with the first major deliberations expected after Durga Puja.