A bungalow in Salt Lake’s FF Block, with a lawn in front, has emerged as the frontrunner for the Bengal chief minister’s official residence.
If Suvendu Adhikari moves into the bungalow next to Sech Abasan, Salt Lake
will host a Bengal chief minister again after more than 25 years.
On Tuesday afternoon, a team from the chief minister’s security detail visited the bungalow for an inspection. Earlier, senior state government officials had also visited the property, people familiar with the developments said.
Former Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Gyanwant Singh vacated the bungalow — once his official residence — around a fortnight ago.
Renovation and refitting work has already begun.
“Officials from the chief minister’s security visited the bungalow today. Other state government officials were here earlier. Renovation work has started, but it is difficult to say when the chief minister will move in,” said a man supervising the revamp.
The two-storey bungalow stands in a neighbourhood that resembles parts of
Lutyens’ Delhi. The bungalow has a large lawn in front and tree-lined surroundings. Concertina wire on the boundary wall signals the high-security nature of the premises.
The bungalow in FF Block is around 2km from Indira Bhavan in DE Block, where former chief minister Jyoti Basu lived for two decades until his death.
Basu’s successor, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, chose to remain in his modest ground-floor flat on Palm Avenue in south Calcutta throughout his tenure as chief minister after taking office in 2000. Buddhadeb had lived there even while serving as a minister in Basu’s cabinet and never shifted to an official residence after becoming chief minister.
When the Trinamool Congress stormed to power in 2011, Mamata Banerjee also chose to continue living at her residence on Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat.
Neither Buddhadeb nor Mamata opted for an official residence during their tenure. Both were from Calcutta.
Suvendu is only the second Bengal chief minister not from Calcutta. His election affidavit lists Nandanayakbar in Nandigram, East Midnapore, as his address. He also frequently visits his family home, Shanti Kunja, in Contai, also in East Midnapore.
Ajoy Mukherjee, who served three brief terms as Bengal chief minister in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was from the undivided Midnapore district.
While in Calcutta, Suvendu stays at Chinar Park in Rajarhat and has been commuting to the state secretariat from there since taking charge as chief minister.
Unlike many other states, Bengal does not have a designated official residence for its chief minister, although residences are earmarked for senior government officials. The Calcutta police commissioner lives on Loudon Street, while the director-general of police stays in Alipore. The chief secretary’s residence is on Ballygunge Circular Road.
Among the other premises being considered for the chief minister is Soujanya in Alipore.