Mamata not to shift from her Kalighat residence

The Chief Minister reportedly wished to change her residence on Friday as the bamboo structure had become quite old and needed immediate repairs which will take more than a month. For that, she wanted to move to a new address till the renovation work was complete. The state administration was looking for her new house in New Alipore or any other place near Nabanna.

But on Saturday, she changed her mind and instructed the administration to stop the search for a new address.  Chatterjee, who is also the Minister for Environment, Fire, Engineering and Housing, on Saturday, said: “The Chief Minister has informed us that she will not change her residence. She will stay at Kalighat’s Harish Chatterjee Street during the period of renovation.” 

While discussing the Chief Minister’s reluctance over not changing her residence, the Mayor visibly looked annoyed over the criticism that appeared in some sections of the media over her decision to change her residence.

“It is really unfortunate. She comes from a middle-class background and has become the Chief Minister of Bengal. The tiled bamboo-made-structure where she lives is an old one. Termites have bored the bamboo structures. We wanted to renovate the residence after moving her to a new address. But some people started to criticise it. Thus, the Chief Minister changed her mind,” said Chatterjee.

Chatterjee, however, added that they know how to protect the security of their Chief Minister. “Being a worker of Trinamool Congress, we’ll renovate the Chief Minister’s house with her staying there,” he added. 

Earlier, the police had requested her to move to a new place after she became the Chief Minister in 2011, which she politely declined. The one-storeyed building where Mamata Banerjee stays has played a major role in Bengal’s recent political movement. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had visited the house when he was the Prime Minister of India.