Lenin Statue

For 34 years after a decisive election victory in 1977, West Bengal was a stronghold for the Marxist Communist Party of India – CPI (M). Although the party lost power in 2011, you'll still find hammer-and-sickle motifs widely plastered on walls around Kolkata, and a major street is still called Lenin Sarani. Just off this thoroughfare, close to Esplanade bus station, a statue of Vladimir Ilich stands as a reminder of the state's communist past.