Close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the controversial renaming of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards after hockey maestro Dhyan Chand, BJP National General Secretary and former minister CT Ravi has kicked up a similar storm. While many, including Congress leaders, have said that the hockey wizard’s contribution to sports is unquestionable, they have also pointed out that honouring him could have been done without renaming the Khel Ratna awards. Many have also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution to cricket with the renaming of the Motera Stadium. However, CT Ravi has said that Indira Canteens in Karnataka should be renamed as Annapooneshwari Canteens in order to remove the legacy of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who imposed the infamous Emergency in 1975.
Ravi, on August 7, tweeted, “Request Chief Minister BS Bommai to rename Indira Canteens across Karnataka as ‘Annapoorneshwari Canteen’ at the earliest. Don't see any reason why Kannadigas should be reminded of the dark days of Emergency while they are having food.”
Request Chief Minister Sri @BSBommai to rename Indira Canteens across Karnataka as "Annapoorneshwari Canteen" at the earliest.
— C T Ravi ಸಿ ಟಿ ರವಿ (@CTRavi_BJP) August 7, 2021
Don't see any reason why Kannadigas should be reminded of the dark days of Emergency while they are having food.
On expected lines, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress, who announced the flagship food subsidy programme during his tenure, has opposed it and called it petty politics. He went on to ask if the BJP will rename the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat or the city bus corporations and flyovers named after its leaders like Deendayal Upadhyay and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also defended Indira Gandhi’s legacy, stating she had initiated reforms like Land Reforms Act and other poverty alleviation programmes.
.@BJP4Karnataka govt should not get into petty politics & attempt to rename Indira Canteen.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 7, 2021
It has been tradition to name roads & govt buildings after National leaders.#IndiraCanteen
But the controversy did not end there. Ex-minister and state Congress working president Ramalinga Reddy on August 10 threatened that party workers will smear all name plates of schemes and institutions named after BJP leaders with black paint if the name of Indira Canteens are changed.
Speaking with TNM, Chandan Gowda, a political analyst and professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, notes that the political motivation behind renaming public institutions and places varies.
“While renaming the colonial city names of Madras and Calcutta as Chennai and Kolkata can be viewed as acceptable, it is a different matter when a political party substitutes the names given by their rival parties,” he argues. “The latter's wish is to symbolically erase the public presence of their predecessor. If Indira Canteens are renamed, that will likely set off endless games of vengeance across successive political regimes and end up trivialising the process of naming public institutions.
Remember, the BJP too had named public services in Karnataka after their leaders and the Congress, JD(S) did not rename any of them when they were in power afterwards. They respected the choice of names of their predecessors.”
He also feels that proposals to rename public institutions are best made within legislative forums with scope for democratic debate. “It is perhaps time,” he adds, “to have a public discussion about acceptable parameters for choosing names for public institutions and spare them from being reduced to symbolic pawns in political games.”
Senior journalist and activist Kathyayini Chamaraj also questions CT Ravi's proposal. She says that politicians should be more concerned about improving the service delivery of welfare schemes rather than proposing cosmetic changes and getting political mileage out of it, like the penchant of renaming things. “Many migrant labourers are unable to avail ration cards and those who need these services need to be identified. So attention should be given to the issue of ensuring everyone’s food security and not obliterating history in the process. If Indira Canteens have to be renamed, then everything that has been named after politicians of all parties should be renamed. Just one political party cannot be targeted,” she says.