Intellectual bankruptcy, says Congress after Suvendu govt renames Suhrawardy road

Congress leader Pawan Khera. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

The Congress on Monday (June 22, 2026) slammed the BJP government in West Bengal for renaming Kolkata’s Suhrawardy Road as ‘Gopal Mukherjee Road’, with party leader Pawan Khera accusing it of “intellectual bankruptcy”.

In a post on X, the Chairman of the Congress Media and Publicity Department quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message in Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee: The Great Educationist to argue that Dr. Mookerjee, a Hindutva ideologue and founder of the Jana Sangh, was a supporter of Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy, after whom the class was named. Dr. Suhrawardy was the first Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University.

Sharing excerpts from the publication, Mr. Khera said the BJP’s stance on the issue was at odds with its own ideological credentials. “Bhakt-Brigade should do what they do best – WhatsApp satsangs with each other. Please spare the country your intellectual bankruptcy,” he wrote.

Located in Kolkata’s Park Circus area, the name of the road has often been criticized by right-wing groups who believe it is named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (1892-1963), a prominent Bengali politician who served as the last Prime Minister of undivided Bengal and later as Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was criticized for his role in communal violence in 1946.

“Typical of BJP’s abysmal ignorance to remove the name of Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy, the 1st Muslim Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta (University), when they targeted his nephew Hussain Suhrawardy, the Bengal Prime Minister who incited the Calcutta riots in 1946. Why don’t they ever read history?” Former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar said in a post on X.

Opposition leaders issued the statement a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s decision to rename a road after Gopal Mukherjee, who “saved” many Hindu families during the “Greater Calcutta Massacre” of 1946.

Mr Adhikari described the move as correcting a “historical error” and linked Suhrawardy’s name to Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, then prime minister of undivided Bengal, who was criticized for his role during the communal violence that followed the Muslim League’s call for a day of direct action in 1946.

However, old editions of the Calcutta City Gazette indicate that the road was named Suhrawardy Avenue in 1932-33, long before Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy emerged on the political scene.

Published – 22 Jun 2026 22:57 IST