Sharadwat Mukherjee received a hero’s welcome when he stepped onto the stage erected outside the AD Block community hall. The block was celebrating Rabindra-Nazrul Jayanti and, on the occasion, the residents’ association felicitated their neighbour — “Jijoda” to one and all — on being elected the local MLA.

But residents had another reason to applaud Mukherjee.

“Because of him, we are able to step into our community hall after three years,” an announcer declared as the MLA walked up to the stage amid loud applause.

The building at the centre of the dispute is a two-storeyed structure at AD 263A. A foundation stone identifies it as the clubhouse of the AD Block Residents’ Club and records that it was inaugurated on August 15, 1993, by Subhas Chakraborty, the then sports and youth affairs minister and a resident of FD Block. The outer wall also bears plaques listing donors who contributed Rs 5,000 or more towards its construction.

Mukherjee addresses his neighbours

Times of turmoil

“It is our clubhouse. The building was built with donations from residents of the block. Yet we, the members of the club, were barred from entering it,” Bibaswan Sarkar, a
resident who made the announcement from the stage, later told The Telegraph Salt Lake.

Several residents present at the programme alleged that the secretary and the president of the residents’ committee had amended the association’s constitution without obtaining the consent of the general body.

“We suddenly received a message on our WhatsApp group saying our life memberships had been cancelled. If we wanted to continue, we had to pay Rs 1,000 annually, while new members had to pay an unspecified amount upfront. But why should we do so when we are block residents and have been life members of the club for decades?” Sarkar said.

The revised membership rules effectively prevented many residents from accessing not only the community hall but also the covered space in front of it.

“We had to rent chairs on weekends for elderly neighbours to sit and chat by the roadside despite there being a community hall,” said resident Sourin Das.

Residents alleged that there was little scope for protest.

“The block’s annual general meeting in 2023 was held with private guards at the gate, allowing entry to only about 50 selected residents. Such a sight is unthinkable in a residential block,” said Rajarshi Ray, a doctor whose family moved into AD Block in 1978.

The AD Block club house, which was allegedly beyond the access of many residents for three years

The situation was especially painful for Ray because his parents had been among the donors who helped build the community hall.

“I did not tell my parents that even I was barred from entering it,” he said.

Residents claimed they sent a series of letters to the secretary and president during this period. Das said they had also approached local councillor Ratna Bhaumik and MLA Sujit Bose but received no relief.

According to them, it was only after Mukherjee became the MLA that the keys to the hall were recovered.

“The results were declared on May 4. On the evening of May 7, he stood in front of the clubhouse and phoned the secretary. He did not relent until the keys were delivered close to midnight,” Sarkar recalled.

The caretaker is now in charge of the keys.

Residents said Arghya Ganguly had recently written to Mukherjee, stepping down as secretary. Ganguly, however, told The Telegraph Salt Lake that his term had expired in March and that there was therefore no question of resigning. The block committee is elected for a two-year term, renewable for another two years.

Ganguly also disputed allegations that life memberships had been abolished, saying the committee had only revised the annual membership fee upwards and that an entry fee was permitted under the Societies Registration Act.

“When we took charge, many people had not paid their membership fees for years. We did what any private club would do,” he said.

Dhruba Mukherjee, the new MLA’s mother, being felicitated

Residents, however, claimed that membership had previously involved only a one-time payment and around 100 life memberships had been cancelled overnight.

Ganguly argued that raising funds had been essential for renovating the community hall. The work included installing a lift, adding a toilet on the first floor and putting up false ceilings on both floors.

“A small portion of the funding came from MLA Sujit Bose’s area development fund. We started work in November and completed it by late February or March,” he said.

The former secretary defended the committee’s decisions, claiming that even many of its critics were now paying the prescribed fees to become members. “I hear that more than 70 people have recently become members or renewed their memberships. They have realised that the club needs funds for maintenance,” he said.

Sarkar, however, argued that residents had little choice because the constitution had already been amended. “Moreover, a clause has been inserted stating that new members cannot contest elections for the first two years. This means those of us who want to serve on the committee are having to clear dues for the last three years — despite not having been allowed inside the club — so that we can be treated as continuing members rather than new ones,” he said.

The president, Subhro Bhattacharya, has now called a meeting at the end of the month.

Words of wisdom

At the felicitation, Mukherjee urged that the club be open to all legal inhabitants of the block — members and non-members alike. “No faction should be shunned. The club should be free of political interference and the leadership should emerge out of a democratic process.” He also offered suggestions to increase the club’s income.

He spoke in favour of continuing with the Jagaddhatri puja that the dissident faction had started in 2023 and requested a quality Durga puja in the block that would allow him “to save face before friends in neighbouring CD Block”.

Mukherjee also offered to hold a health awareness programme. “There are so many doctors in the block — gynaecologist, oncologist… We could hold a programme on the human papillomavirus,” he said, referring to the government’s bid to vaccinate 14-to 15-year-old girls as protection against cervical cancer that had recently been launched in Bengal.

The MLA could arrange the speakers for such a programme from his own family, as he himself is an oncologist and his wife Tulika Jha, seated in the first row, a gynaecologist. Also present was his mother, a popular figure in the block, who instructed the announcer to introduce the new MLA as “Dhruba mashimar chhoto chhele”. The announcer happily obliged.