Lenin, Marx and Ho Chi Minh could disappear from Kolkata street signs

Kolkata could soon see the removal of street names honoring Communist leaders Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Ho Chi Minh, according to a proposal from West Bengal’s new BJP government. A 10-member committee set up to review street and place names has received suggestions to alter the names of Lenin Sarani, Karl Marx Sarani, and Ho Chi Minh Sarani, which have been in use for over half a century. The committee, headed by Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj), is expected to discuss the proposals after Durga Puja.

The new BJP government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, took office in West Bengal in May, following a 15-year rule by the Trinamool Congress. The Trinamool had previously replaced the BJP after more than three decades of Left Front government. Former Meghalaya and Tripura governor Tathagata Roy, a former BJP state president and committee member, believes the renaming could serve as a form of "amends" for perceived leftist misdeeds.

Ho Chi Minh Sarani, previously named Harrington Street, was renamed in response to the Vietnam War, as the US Consulate General is located on it. Roy has proposed renaming it after US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Lenin Sarani, previously Dharmatala Street, was renamed in 1970 to mark the centenary of Vladimir Lenin's birth.

Roy has suggested naming it after mathematician Debaprasad Ghosh or poet Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, both of whom have connections to the area. Circular Garden Reach Road, which was once Karl Marx Sarani, could instead be renamed after 19th-century Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt or poet Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, according to Roy.

The recommendations from the committee will be sent to the state Assembly for consideration. The panel includes Chief Minister’s adviser Subrata Gupta and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey. The proposals also extend to removing the Lenin statue at the intersection of Jawaharlal Nehru Road and Sidhho-Kanhu Dahar, and renaming an important Kolkata road after India's first deputy prime minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Additionally, some places named after Muslim figures might be renamed to honor "nationalist" Muslim figures, such as Qazi Abdul Wadud, Begum Rokeya, and S Wajed Ali. One proposal involves renaming a bus stand in Barasat, near Kolkata, in honor of Titumir. However, no final decisions have been made, and the committee's recommendations will need approval from the state Assembly.