The BJP-led West Bengal government has renamed Kolkata’s historic ‘Sohrabardi Avenue’ as ‘Gopal Mukherjee Road’, a move announced on June 20 and described by Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari as a correction of a long-standing historical error. Adhikari claimed the previous name honored a figure responsible for political violence, while the new name recognizes a ‘true protector and savior’. The decision was made public through Adhikari’s post on X, calling it a historic step taken on West Bengal Day.

Opposition leaders and historians have strongly contested the decision, arguing that the avenue was not named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the last Premier of undivided Bengal, but after his uncle Dr. Hasan Suhrawardy, a renowned physician and educator. Critics, including Trinamool Congress leaders Saket Gokhale and Kunal Ghosh, urged the government to verify historical records, warning that punishing the wrong person’s legacy would be a grave mistake.

The controversy deepened as reports highlighted Hasan Suhrawardy’s humanitarian contributions and Gopal Mukherjee’s violent role in the 1946 Kolkata riots. Observers described the renaming as politically motivated historical distortion that undermines Kolkata’s cultural identity.