West Bengal: The exercise to change the names of many roads, bridges and public places has started in West Bengal. The state government has formed a 10-member committee which is considering proposals to change the names of several roads, bridges and public places in the state. These also include three major roads in Kolkata which were named after communist leaders Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and Ho Chi Minh.
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According to a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) official, this committee headed by Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Kartik Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram, is likely to hold its first meeting after Durga Puja. Proposals for changing the names of roads in Kolkata are likely to be discussed in this meeting.
The names of roads being considered for renaming include Lenin Avenue, Karl Marx Avenue and Ho Chi Minh Avenue.
The official said that no decision has been taken yet in this regard and any change in the names will be made only on the basis of the recommendations of the committee.
According to reports, the committee members include former Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy, advisor to the Chief Minister Subrata Gupta and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey. Roy suggested that Karl Marx Sarani in Khidirpur could be named after Bengali poets Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Rangalal Bandyopadhyay as they were associated with the area.
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Karthik Maharaj told reporters that the panel would consider the significance of the personalities after whom roads are named; This consideration will be done in the context of Indian and Bengali heritage and culture.
The official said that Roy, who was previously the president of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), suggested renaming the Lenin Array after mathematician and former Bharatiya Jan Sangh president Debprasad Ghosh.
Roy proposed the name of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. for the Ho Chi Minh array.
A KMC official said Roy also demanded removal of Lenin's statue at the intersection of Jawaharlal Nehru Road and Sidho-Kanhu Dahar and suggested that an important road in the city be named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Lenin Sarani was earlier known as Dharmatala Street and was renamed in 1970 during the birth centenary celebrations of Lenin. The next year the circular Garden Reach Road was renamed Karl Marx Sarani.