Being the original capital of the British Empire, Kolkata boasts some of India’s oldest and grandest government residences. But unlike their counterparts in the rest of the country, West Bengal’s ministers have not enjoyed the luxury of living in these palatial bungalows in Alipore and Baliganj for over half a century. What should normally be ministerial residences are occupied by senior bureaucrats. The city does not even have an earmarked chief ministerial house. When the Communists came to power in 1977, Marxist ministers pointedly did not live in these relics of the Raj. And Mamata Banerjee, who wanted to emphasise her humble origins, continued this practice. BJP CM Suvendu Adhikari has to decide whether to reclaim the accommodations of colonial glory for politicians or settle for humbler abodes. He himself is likely to move into an irrigation department bungalow in Alipore.

Adhikari has, however, indicated that he will transfer the secretariat back to the iconic Writers’ Building, renamed Mahakaran, once the seat of West Bengal’s state administration. In 2013, Banerjee abandoned the sprawling three-storey red-stone complex with exquisite Minton tile flooring, originally the central office of the East India Company........

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