Kolkata, 14 September (H.S.) : The West Bengal government’s 10-member advisory committee is considering proposals to rename several roads, bridges and public places across the state, including three prominent Kolkata thoroughfares named after communist leaders Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and Ho Chi Minh.

The committee, headed by Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Kartik Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, is expected to hold its first meeting after Durga Puja. Proposals concerning the renaming of roads in Kolkata are likely to be taken up at the meeting, a senior committee member said on Monday.

The three roads under consideration are Lenin Sarani, Karl Marx Sarani and Ho Chi Minh Sarani.

“No decision has been taken yet. The recommendations will be made after Durga Puja in October,” committee member and senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy said.

Roy proposed renaming Karl Marx Sarani in Kidderpore after Bengali poets Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, citing their association with the area. He also suggested renaming Lenin Sarani, formerly known as Dharmatala Street, after mathematician and former Bharatiya Jana Sangh president Debaprasad Ghosh.

“All these are recommendations to be submitted after the Pujas and for a final decision by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation,” Roy said.

Asked whether the statue of Lenin at the Esplanade crossing could also be removed, Roy said, “If there is a suggestion in this regard, I hope the board will consider it accordingly.”

For Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Roy proposed the name of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Roy also suggested that some places named after Muslim personalities could be renamed after figures whom he described as “nationalist Muslims”. Among his suggestions were writer Qazi Abdul Wadud, educationist Begum Rokeya and author S Wajed Ali as alternatives for the Titumir-named bus stand in Barasat.

He further said he had suggested to the Metro Railway authorities that certain stations on the Tollygunge-Garia stretch of the Blue Line be renamed after the respective localities rather than personalities. According to Roy, this would make it easier for commuters and local residents to identify the stations.

The former Meghalaya governor also proposed naming an important road in Kolkata after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Besides Roy, Chief Minister’s adviser Subrata Gupta and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey are among the members of the advisory committee. Roy said the committee’s recommendations would subsequently be forwarded to the state Assembly.

The proposals drew a sharp reaction from the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress, which termed the move an act of “vendetta politics”.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that although his party may have ideological differences with the Communists, it would oppose any move to change the name of Lenin Sarani.

“If they try to change the name of Lenin Sarani, it will not merely be about Comrade Lenin. Such an attitude will show that they are in no way willing to show tolerance or respect towards distinguished people who hold different beliefs, subscribe to different philosophies or have different ways of thinking,” Ghosh said.

He said the CPI(M) would certainly oppose any attempt to rename Lenin Sarani and asserted that the TMC would also resist such a move.

“Lenin Sarani existed and will continue to exist,” Ghosh said.

However, Ghosh also criticised the CPI(M), saying the party needed to learn a lesson from the controversy. He alleged that its “blind opposition” to the TMC had, at times, strengthened the BJP and that the Left party had celebrated when central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation took action against the Trinamool Congress.

“If roads are renamed with the intention of insulting someone or disrespecting a particular philosophy, that will not be acceptable under any circumstances,” he said.

On the proposal to rename Metro stations, Ghosh said several stations had been named after iconic personalities as a symbolic recognition of their association with particular areas and that people had accepted those names.

“Everyone knows why Barun Sengupta’s name was chosen for a Metro station. He was a distinguished journalist, writer and essayist. Wherever an area has a connection with a public figure, or where it is appropriate to honour someone by naming a place after them, that name should be retained. Uttam Kumar is another example,” Ghosh said.

“We had created a culture of honouring distinguished personalities, while they (BJP) are creating a kind of destructive, negative climate aimed at destroying it,” he alleged.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh