Tripura: CPI(M), Congress oppose renaming of Agartala Town Hall after SP Mookerjee

After Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha announced plans to rename the four-decade-old Town Hall in Agartala after Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress strongly opposed the move on July 7.

Saha, while speaking at a programme to mark the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee on Sunday announced the Town Hall would be renamed after the Jana Sangh founder.

A statue of Mookerjee would be installed there to pay tribute to him, the CM said.

CPI(M) MLA and leader of opposition in the Tripura Assembly, Jitendra Chaudhury, said, "I strongly oppose the chief minister's announcement that the Town Hall here would be renamed after Syama Prasad Mookerjee. 

The structure was built four decades ago. I don't oppose renaming any other auditorium, school, or hospital after their leader. I urge the government to build a big auditorium in the city and name it after Syama Prasad Mookerjee," he said in a live Facebook post.

He claimed that renaming the Town Hall in Agartala after the Jana Sangh founder would "not be a true tribute to him".

Chaudhury, also the state secretary of the CPI(M), said Agartala city needs a big auditorium because sometimes halls are not available to host cultural or other social activities.

"We respect Syama Prasad Mookerjee despite our ideological differences and urge the government to build a big auditorium, which is the need of the hour, and name it after the Jana Sangh founder. It will be a true tribute to him," he said.

Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Asish Kumar Saha on Monday strongly reacted to the Chief Minister's announcement.

"We oppose the government's plan to rename the Town Hall after Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The Congress is not against naming any structure after the renowned person but it should be done after constructing a big auditorium in the city," he said.