TMC, BJP spar over proposed renaming of Kolkata’s Sealdah station
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Kolkata: A political row has erupted between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the proposed renaming of Kolkata’s iconic Sealdah Railway Station.
The TMC wants the station renamed after Swami Vivekananda, while the BJP’s West Bengal unit is pushing for it to be named after Syama Prasad Mukherjee.
BJP leader and Union Minister of State Dr Sukanta Majumdar argued that Sealdah station was a key transit point for Hindu refugees during the partition of undivided India, and that Mukherjee had played a vital role in ensuring their livelihood. “In his memory as well as keeping in mind the significance of Sealdah station for the transit of refugees, the station should be named after him,” he said.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh dismissed this reasoning, noting that a port in West Bengal is already named after Mukherjee. He said Sealdah had a historical connection with Swami Vivekananda, who arrived there after delivering his famous address at the Chicago religious conference. “So the station should be named after him,” Ghosh said.
Majumdar acknowledged that renaming the station would require the West Bengal government’s consent and urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to send a proposal for naming it after Mukherjee.
