Baby's Cry
It is to a world that has changed while his party has remained exactly where it was.
NewsBharati 20-Jun-2026 13:01:30 PM
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The decision of the Telangana government to name a road near the US Consulate in Hyderabad as “Donald Trump Avenue” has produced an unlikely political development. For a brief moment, the BJP and the CPI(M) found themselves on the same side of an argument. In Indian politics, that is roughly equivalent to finding a vegetarian tiger and a vegan crocodile sharing the same lunch table.
Listening to the Communists on this issue is like discovering a time capsule buried somewhere in the 1970s. The Cold War ended more than three decades ago. The Berlin Wall fell. The Soviet Union collapsed. Russia itself abandoned Communism and today openly pursues nationalism and geopolitical interests rather than Marxist revolution. But, somewhere in the CPI(M) headquarters, the calendar seems permanently stuck in the era of bell-bottoms and Brezhnev. For the Communists, history apparently stopped in 1989. Every issue is still interpreted through the familiar vocabulary of “imperialism,” “anti-imperialism,” “American aggression,” and “people’s struggles.” One almost expects the next CPI(M) statement to condemn the latest activities of the East India Company.
India itself engages with the United States, Russia, France, Israel, Japan, the Gulf nations and many others simultaneously. This is called strategic autonomy. It is not a Marxist study circle. The Communists, however, continue to behave as if Washington and Moscow are still competing for influence in the streets of Berlin. Perhaps that explains their electoral condition.
When voters moved into the twenty-first century, the Communists remained comfortably parked in the twentieth. The most entertaining aspect of this controversy, however, is not the communist criticism. It is the embarrassment it creates for the Congress.
After all, the Telangana government proposing “Donald Trump Avenue” is not a BJP government. It is a Congress government. The same Congress whose leader, Rahul Gandhi, regularly accuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being excessively accommodating towards Trump and the United States. This naturally raises a simple question. If naming a road after Trump is problematic, what exactly is the Telangana government doing? And if it is perfectly acceptable, then what happens to years of political rhetoric accusing others of being too friendly with Trump? Some explanation would certainly help.
Telangana government has defended the naming exercise as part of a broader initiative involving globally recognised personalities and institutions, including roads named after industrialist Ratan Tata and technology companies. The stated objective is to project Telangana as a global innovation and investment hub. One may agree or disagree with that approach. But at least it reflects a contemporary logic connected to branding, investment and international visibility. The Communist objection, by contrast, resembles an old gramophone record playing a revolutionary song long after the audience has left the theatre.
The real tragedy for the Left is not that it opposes “Donald Trump Avenue.” The tragedy is that even its criticism sounds outdated. Political relevance requires understanding the world as it exists, not as it existed half a century ago. So yes, the Telangana government may wish to reconsider whether naming roads after foreign political leaders is the best use of public symbolism.
But the CPI(M) should perhaps reconsider something even more important. The question is whether it wants to participate in the twenty-first century. Because while Hyderabad is preparing to inaugurate Donald Trump Avenue, the Communists appear determined to remain permanently stationed at Ho Chi Minh Sarani, waiting patiently for a cold war that ended long ago.
CPCPI(M) general secretary M. A. Baby has strongly objected to the move. Drawing parallels with the renaming of a road near the US Consulate in Kolkata as Ho Chi Minh Sarani during the Vietnam War, he argued that India should uphold its anti-imperialist traditions instead of honouring Donald Trump. He also linked the issue to American military interventions and broader geopolitical conflicts.
Now, let us be clear. There is no compelling reason to name a road after Donald Trump. India has no shortage of national icons, scientists, social reformers, soldiers, artists and thinkers deserving public recognition. One can legitimately question the wisdom of dedicating a Hyderabad road to a sitting American president. But the reasoning offered by the CPI(M) is where the comedy begins.
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The irony is particularly rich because the world is no longer organised around a simple America-versus-Soviet Union framework. The global order is becoming increasingly multipolar. Nations pursue interests, partnerships and strategic balances. Countries cooperate in one area and compete in another. Foreign policy is now about pragmatism rather than ideological purity.
India itself engages with the United States, Russia, France, Israel, Japan, the Gulf nations and many others simultaneously. This is called strategic autonomy. It is not a Marxist study circle. The Communists, however, continue to behave as if Washington and Moscow are still competing for influence in the streets of Berlin. Perhaps that explains their electoral condition.
Political parties survive by adapting to changing realities. Successful movements evolve. They rethink assumptions. They respond to social transformations. The CPI(M), on the other hand, has spent decades preserving ideology like a museum artifact. The result is visible across India. The party that once influenced national politics at ideological level, now struggles to remain politically relevant outside a few isolated pockets.
After all, the Telangana government proposing “Donald Trump Avenue” is not a BJP government. It is a Congress government. The same Congress whose leader, Rahul Gandhi, regularly accuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being excessively accommodating towards Trump and the United States. This naturally raises a simple question. If naming a road after Trump is problematic, what exactly is the Telangana government doing? And if it is perfectly acceptable, then what happens to years of political rhetoric accusing others of being too friendly with Trump? Some explanation would certainly help.
The Congress now finds itself trapped in a situation entirely of its own making. One wing appears eager to celebrate Trump with a road. Another wing routinely criticises Trump as a symbol of everything wrong with global politics. Meanwhile, the CPI(M) is demanding ideological consistency from Congress, a request that may be the most unrealistic political demand made in India this year.
Telangana government has defended the naming exercise as part of a broader initiative involving globally recognised personalities and institutions, including roads named after industrialist Ratan Tata and technology companies. The stated objective is to project Telangana as a global innovation and investment hub. One may agree or disagree with that approach. But at least it reflects a contemporary logic connected to branding, investment and international visibility. The Communist objection, by contrast, resembles an old gramophone record playing a revolutionary song long after the audience has left the theatre.
The real tragedy for the Left is not that it opposes “Donald Trump Avenue.” The tragedy is that even its criticism sounds outdated. Political relevance requires understanding the world as it exists, not as it existed half a century ago. So yes, the Telangana government may wish to reconsider whether naming roads after foreign political leaders is the best use of public symbolism.
But the CPI(M) should perhaps reconsider something even more important. The question is whether it wants to participate in the twenty-first century. Because while Hyderabad is preparing to inaugurate Donald Trump Avenue, the Communists appear determined to remain permanently stationed at Ho Chi Minh Sarani, waiting patiently for a cold war that ended long ago.
Donald Trump Avenue may or may not survive the next political season. But the CPI(M)'s refusal to move beyond Cold War slogans has survived for decades. The irony is that even the Soviet Union eventually embraced Glasnost (Openness) and Perestroika (Restructuring), accepting that old dogmas could not answer new realities. The Communists, who once preached revolution now seem terrified of reforming themselves. Perhaps Comrade Baby's real objection is not to a road named after Trump. It is to a world that has changed while his party has remained exactly where it was. A little Glasnost and Perestroika within the CPI(M) might prove far more useful than another sermon on imperialism.
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