Kolkata Roads May Get New Names as Bengal Panel Reviews Lenin, Marx Sarani
A West Bengal panel is reviewing proposals to rename Kolkata roads named after communist leaders, triggering debate over heritage and historical memory.
A 10-member West Bengal government committee is reviewing proposals to rename roads, bridges and other public places, including Kolkata’s Lenin Sarani, Karl Marx Sarani and Ho Chi Minh Sarani. No final decision has been taken, and any changes will depend on the panel’s recommendations.
The committee, headed by Swami Pradiptananda, is expected to hold its first meeting after Durga Puja, when proposals concerning Kolkata’s roads are likely to be discussed. The panel includes former Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy, a chief ministerial adviser and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation commissioner.
The committee will examine whether the personalities associated with existing names remain relevant to Indian and Bengali heritage and culture. Roy has proposed renaming Lenin Sarani after mathematician Debaprasad Ghosh, while Karl Marx Sarani could be named after Bengali poets Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Rangalal Bandyopadhyay. For Ho Chi Minh Sarani, he suggested the name of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Other proposals include removing a Lenin statue from a central Kolkata crossing and naming a major road after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Suggestions have also been made to rename certain places associated with historical Muslim figures.
The exercise has sparked a broader debate over Kolkata’s political legacy, cultural identity and whether replacing long-standing names could alter the city’s historical memory.
