Left parties oppose renaming Odisha's Phulbani medical college after Sangh Parivar ideologue
Left-wing political parties in Odisha are protesting the state government's decision to rename a medical college after Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a controversial Sangh Parivar figure. Critics argue the move promotes communal polarization and violates secular values by using public funds for ideological naming.
Why it matters
The controversy underscores the ongoing debate over the politicization of public institutions and the influence of religious figures in state governance.
All Left parties in Odisha on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) condemned the Mohan Charan Majhi government’s decision to rename the Phulbani Government Medical College and Hospital in Kandhamal district after late Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a veteran Sangh Parivar ideologue whose killing by CPI (Maoist) in 2008 had triggered one of the worst episodes of anti-Christian violence in the State.
In a joint statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (ML)-Liberation, and the All India Forward Bloc said said a government medical college and hospital is a public service institution dedicated to people of all religions, castes, communities, and classes and it should be named after a personality who commands universal respect and whose life embodies the ideals of humanity, social harmony, and public welfare.
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