West Bengal has witnessed a series of controversies since the formation of the new government, and a fresh political row has now erupted over the renaming of a prominent Kolkata road.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) recently renamed Suhrawardy Avenue as Gopal Mukherjee Road, a move welcomed by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who described it as a 'historic' decision that corrected a longstanding wrong.
However, opposition leaders accused the government of acting on incorrect historical information, pointing out that Suhrawardy Avenue was named after Dr Hasan Suhrawardy, a renowned physician, educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kunal Ghosh argued that the road was named after Dr Hasan Suhrawardy, not Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the then Premier of Bengal who has often been linked to the 1946 Calcutta killings.
Congress leader Pawan Khera also criticised the government, alleging that it had confused Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, whom he referred to as the 'Butcher of Bengal.'
Former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale echoed the criticism, saying Suhrawardy Avenue had been named in honour of Hasan Suhrawardy in April 1933 and not after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
