The second floor of Writers’ Buildings is “most suited” to house the office of Bengal’s next chief minister, and could be readied in weeks if the BJP decides to shift the state secretariat back to the heart of the city from Nabanna in Howrah, public works department sources said on Tuesday.

Much of the repair and restoration work on the second floor of the main block is complete. Flooring, too, has been finished in large sections, a visit by Metro showed.

Work on interiors and the remaining electrical fittings can be completed in a few weeks, an engineer said.

Since the Assembly election results on Monday, speculation has grown that the BJP could move the state’s administrative headquarters out of Nabanna, across the Hooghly. Many see Writers’ Buildings as the frontrunner to reclaim its position as the seat of power.

Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had his office on the first floor. However, renovation work on that floor is still lagging behind schedule.

“There is a portion on the second floor that is spacious and airy. It could be a perfect place for the chief minister’s office,” said a PWD official.

Over 240 years old, Writers’ Buildings served as the secretariat for successive Bengal governments until Mamata Banerjee shifted operations to Nabanna in October 2013.

“The second floor has seen far more progress in restoration than the first floor, where former chief ministers had their offices,” the official said. The space overlooks Dalhousie Square.

“Painting and finishing work remain. Interiors, like room division and placement of toilets, are usually finalised after consulting the occupants,” the official added.

The ₹102-crore restoration and renovation project was planned more than a decade ago by Madhumita Roy, a professor of architecture at Jadavpur University.

Roy told Metro on Tuesday that the original plan proposed demolishing some buildings on the premises that were added around Independence and were incongruous with the rest of the structure.

“The idea was to open up the space, allowing sunlight and air to circulate freely. We wanted to create a landscape in the area meant to be a courtyard, which had been built over later,” Roy said. She added that she had stepped away from the restoration project years ago.

PWD sources said large parts of the structure required extensive repairs, many of which remain incomplete.

The main block — visible from Dalhousie Square and the adjoining road along the southern boundary of Writers’ — is the oldest section of the complex and housed the offices of former chief ministers. Its facade reflects a Greco-Roman architectural style.

During the Mamata Banerjee government, urban development minister Firhad Hakim and law minister Moloy Ghatak had offices in Writers’.

The surrounding area itself draws its name from the building’s history. In 1930, freedom fighters Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta stormed the building and shot a British police officer dead. Dalhousie Square is now BBD Bag.

Designed by Thomas Lyon, the main block was completed in 1780 and became Calcutta’s first three-storey building. Its first and second floors feature 128-foot-long verandahs, along which chief ministers had their offices.

Running perpendicular to the main structure, blocks I to V were constructed between 1879 and 1906. Further additions followed from 1945 onwards, with eight blocks added after Independence to accommodate more offices.

Originally built to house the “writers”, or junior clerks, of the East India Company, the complex has served multiple purposes over time. Fort William College operated from the premises for a few years from 1800, and between 1871 and 1874, parts of the building were used by the East India Railway Company. By the late 1990s, the complex had become too congested.

Today, architecture and history buffs are watching closely for its new avatar.

BJP 'keen'

The BJP appears keen to run the government from Writers’ Buildings, tapping into what party leaders said was a long-standing public sentiment attached to the historic seat of power.

Party insiders said the move to shift the secretariat back from Nabanna to Writers’, the red landmark in the heart of Calcutta, is seen as symbolic and political.

“When the secretariat was moved out of Writers’ Buildings, many people in Bengal felt hurt. It was a tradition to govern the state from this iconic complex. We want to connect with that sentiment. That is why we want to
run the government from Writers’ Buildings,” a BJP source said.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya repeated the party’s stand on Tuesday. “We have been saying since 2021 that we will run the government from Writers’ Buildings. I announced this during the election campaign this year as well. But the final decision will be taken by the new chief minister of our party,” he said.

Hurdles

A return to Writers’ is unlikely from day one.

Public works department officials said that if the new government wants to begin functioning from the complex immediately, only blocks 1 and 2 could be made available now.

These blocks currently house offices of several engineering wings of the PWD, and their relocation would not be a challenge.

The chief minister’s office, however, cannot be set up in these blocks due to security protocols, a PWD source said.

The chief minister’s office was earlier located on the first floor of the main block, which is yet to be fully renovated.

“It is unlikely to be made functional until the entire block is renovated, which could take six months,” the source said.

Additional reporting by Pranesh Sarkar