The state government has identified a two-storey bungalow in Salt Lake as the camp office of chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, where he is expected to hold meetings and official engagements outside regular office hours, sources in the government said.
Janatar Darbar, the chief minister’s public outreach programme that allows people to present their grievances, is also likely to be shifted to the bungalow in FF Block, next to Sech Abasan. At present, the programme is held at the BJP’s state headquarters in Salt Lake.
On Sunday, a pre-budget meeting was held at the bungalow, a senior state government official said.
There is also speculation within government circles that Suvendu may eventually move into the bungalow, which could be designated as the chief minister’s official residence.
“It has been set up as a camp office where the chief minister can convene meetings beyond office hours. It has the space and necessary infrastructure to conduct meetings. We held a pre-budget meeting in the building on Sunday,” an official said.
“There are also talks to shift the Janatar Darbar programme to this address as it has the space to accommodate the large number of people turning up every week,” said the official.
A BJP leader said hundreds of people queue up outside the BJP state office in Sector V every Monday, when the Janatar Darbar is held. The chief minister had to skip a couple of the sessions when officials from the chief minister’s office listened to the grievances of common people.
“It becomes difficult for even party workers to enter the state office on Monday,” said the BJP leader.
Metro reported on May 27 that the two-storey bungalow was being renovated and refitted to make it fit for the chief minister to move in.
“Whether the chief minister will shift his residence to this building is something that will be decided later,” added the official.
Former Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Gyanwant Singh vacated the bungalow — once his official residence — around mid-May.
According to government sources, the property was earlier an inspection bungalow of the state irrigation department. Its sprawling lawn and bungalow-style architecture evoke the character of the official residences in Lutyens’ Delhi.
It was fixed as the official residence of the commissioner of Bidhannagar Police, though Singh stayed on even after he was no longer the commissioner.
While the chief ministers of many Indian states have official residences, Bengal did not have one.
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 ground-floor flat on Palm Avenue in south Calcutta.
After Mamata Banerjee became the chief minister in 2011, she continued to live at her Kalighat residence.
Both Buddhadeb and Mamata were from Calcutta. Suvendu, who now resides in Chinar Park, is from East Midnapore.
“A private residence lacks the infrastructure for meetings on holidays or after office hours. An official residence would address that need,” a bureaucrat said.
