KOLKATA: For decades till 2013, the red façade of the Writers’ Buildings had administered Bengal. And now, after years of silence, the old building at BBD Bag, in the heart of Kolkata, is preparing to awaken again.
The BJP is keen that its first-ever government should function from Writers’, shifting from Nabanna in Howrah, which Mamata Banerjee made her power citadel in 2013.
The government, led by chief minister-designate Suvendu Adhikari, will be sworn in on Saturday beneath the open skies of Brigade Parade Ground, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers from states ruled by the saffron party.
Source claim Adhikari, accompanied by officers and ministers, may visit the old red landmark in the city’s administrative heart on Saturday.
Even as preparations for the function are on, workers are running against time cleaning the Writers’ long verandas, weathered corridors and green shuttered windows. The building is under renovation at present and may take time to be ready if the new chief minister decides to shift office.
Party insiders said the decision to move the seat of government back to Writers’ was driven also by sentiment — by a desire to reconnect governance with the historic centre from which Bengal had long been ruled.
“In order to pay respect to people’s sentiment, the BJP government plans to run the state from the Writers’ Buildings,” a party source remarked. “People were hurt when the secretariat moved out. We want to restore that connection.”
After shifting to Nabanna two years into her first term, Banerjee believed the building was auspicious — a fortunate seat from which to govern the state. Over the years, the move became closely associated with the Trinamool era.
‘Breaking of a continuity’
For many in the BJP, the departure from Writers’ had felt like the breaking of an old continuity. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya had spoken of the idea repeatedly since 2021.