The fuss over renaming Indira Bhavan has punctured its potential to become the permanent chief minister’s office-cum-residence that Brand Bengal needs more than Mamata Banerjee requires an official roof over her head.

Jyoti Basu’s former home, which Mamata wants to rename after the poet Kazi Nazrul Islam against the wishes of both ally and arch-rival, apparently has all the credentials to be the state’s answer to 1 Anne Marg in Patna or 5 Kalidas Marg in Lucknow.

But officials wouldn’t dare tell that to the chief minister, who seems to be following in the footsteps of predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in rejecting any suggestion of a change in residence. A bureaucrat who had worked closely with Bhattacharjee for a decade and is now doing so with Mamata said the two were similar in their belief in sticking to “the popular perception of humility and simplicity”.

So what’s wrong with that? Nothing. Then why does Bengal need an official chief minister’s residence? Because it would make life easier for everyone working around the chief minister. “There is nothing showy about a chief minister living in an official residence; that’s the norm. It is meant to be the hub of meetings before and after work and also make the job of the security agencies easier,” the bureaucrat said.

According to a city-based industrialist, the chief ministers of earlier years could afford to stay in their own houses but not today’s head of government, who was required to operate more like the chief executive officer of a company.

“Business meetings in the evening used to be held at Nandan or the Calcutta Information Centre during Buddhababu’s rule. I remember tea being served in cups that were so shabby,” recounted the industrialist.

Since coming to power, Mamata has stuck to Writers’ for meetings with everyone from potential investors and foreign dignitaries to cricketers and cine stars. “She isn’t fond of meeting people in star hotels, which is why she has done up her office. But Writers’ is not the best place for meetings that call for a personal touch or some privacy,” an official said.

In the run-up to the four-day Bengal Leads summit, bureaucrats at Writers’ were heard ruing the lack of venues to host business meetings. “A proper chief minister’s residence should be part of the brand-building exercise. Industries minister Partha Chatterjee hosts meetings at the WBIDC facility on Camac Street,” an official said.

Jyoti Basu was the only one among the eight Bengal chief ministers since Independence who stayed at an address designated the “chief minister’s residence”. After he relinquished office and Bhattacharjee took over in 2000, Indira Bhavan became a de facto “Jyoti Basu Bhavan” with the patriarch remaining there till his death in 2010.

Bhattacharjee stayed put at his flat in 59A Palm Avenue.

Mamata’s residence at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street has eight rooms, including two office chambers. Although several big names have visited her there — including A.B. Vajpayee when he was Prime Minister — even Trinamul leaders admit the house isn’t the best address to host dignitaries.

But like those at Writers’, they would rather not prod Mamata on this.

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