AHMEDABAD: The decision to name a newly built fish market in Surat at an outlay of Rs 3.90 crore as ‘Shri Narendra Modi Wholesale Fish Market’ has snowballed into a political and civic controversy, placing traders, the Surat Municipal Corporation and local BJP leadership under scrutiny.
The fish market at Nanpura Lakkadkot was recently displayed with the name board has triggered opposition from a section of traders who questioned both the choice of name and the procedure followed to put up the board.
The controversy is not merely about a name.
At its core is a larger question: Can a civic property be renamed without a formal municipal resolution?
“PM is vegetarian; his name should not be linked to a fish market," a trader said.
Fish market leader Surendra Laskari has strongly opposed the naming, arguing that associating the Prime Minister’s name with a wholesale fish market could create an unnecessary controversy around his image.
“Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of the country and is known as a pure vegetarian. He has never consumed seafood. Therefore, naming a non-vegetarian fish market after him is not appropriate,” Laskari said.
He argued that the market should reflect the identity of the community that has historically been associated with the fish trade. “We belong to the Kahar Machhi community. If the market is named after the Kahar Machhi community, nobody will have any objection. Our objection is to the arbitrary manner in which this name has been imposed,” he said.
Laskari further alleged that the naming was carried out unilaterally by association president Kalpesh Navsariwala and demanded immediate removal of the board.
“The board should be removed immediately so that the Prime Minister is not unnecessarily dragged into a controversy. The market should be formally inaugurated in the name of the Kahar Machhi community after following the proper procedure,” he said.
Association president defends naming while the opposing camp has refused to back down.
Surat Fish Merchant Association president Kalpesh Navsariwala supported the decision, arguing that the Prime Minister’s contribution to the fishing sector justified the honour.
“We are not occupying or operating this market illegally. The Prime Minister has created a separate ministry for the fisheries sector and has supported fishermen through schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. Therefore, there is no reason to object to his name being associated with this market,” Navsariwala said.
He also claimed that the market has been developed through the efforts of BJP leaders and that traders have already made substantial financial commitments to operate from the facility.
“The market has been started in accordance with the Surat Municipal Corporation’s process. Traders have deposited around Rs 43 lakh and have also paid six months’ advance rent. The facility has come up because of the efforts of BJP leaders, and we will not allow the board to be removed,” he said.
His statement has, however, brought the procedural question back to the centre of the controversy.
According to the civic procedure cited in the matter, a municipal property constructed by the Surat Municipal Corporation cannot simply be renamed through the installation of a private or association board.
A formal resolution would ordinarily be required through the appropriate municipal forum, such as the cultural committee or general meeting.
But officials have indicated that no such resolution has been passed so far. The revelation has transformed what began as a naming dispute into a question of municipal authority.
Rajesh Ganjawala, Executive Engineer of Surat Municipal Corporation’s Central Zone, said the civic body acted after learning that the board was being installed.
“After we came to know that the board was being installed despite repeated objections regarding the naming, our team went to the spot to remove it. However, the team returned after local traders assured us that they would remove the board themselves,” Ganjawala told local Media.
The statement has raised an obvious question: If the civic body has not formally approved the new name, on what authority was the board installed in the first place?
A market already carrying a controversial history.
The naming row is just the latest controversy surrounding the Lakkadkot fish market. The project was officially recorded in Surat Municipal Corporation budget documents as ‘Construction of fish market at Lakkadkot near Nanpura in Central Zone’, with no reference to the Prime Minister’s name.
Construction began in 2018, but the project was subsequently stalled in 2020 after objections from the National Monument Authority. The work resumed only after the required revised No Objection Certificate was obtained. The market was eventually completed with facilities including cold storage, turning the long-delayed project into a major wholesale fish trading facility.
Political honour or procedural overreach?
The controversy has effectively created two competing arguments. One side says the Prime Minister has significantly supported fishermen through dedicated institutional and financial initiatives, making his name an appropriate tribute.
The other side argues that political admiration cannot override civic procedure and that the Prime Minister’s name should not be attached to a fish market without formal approval, particularly when he is publicly known as a vegetarian.
For now, the biggest issue confronting the Surat Municipal Corporation is therefore not simply whose name should be on the market, but who authorised the name in the first place.
Until a formal municipal resolution settles the matter, the ‘Narendra Modi Wholesale Fish Market’ board raise uncomfortable questions over the naming of civic assets in politically charged circumstances.