KOLKATA: Bengal’s first BJP chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari, may soon change his Kolkata address from his Chinar Park flat to the Soujanya complex in Alipore.PWD is actively considering whether Soujanya can be used as the temporary residence of the chief minister. Senior police officials, led by joint police commissioner Rupesh Kumar, visited the building on Sunday to assess its security arrangements. A final decision is awaited.Built at a cost of over Rs 180 crore, the palatial structure was constructed specifically to house CMs and other VVIPs. Since its inauguration in 2018 by then CM Mamata Banerjee, it has remained largely unused.Adhikari’s ancestral home, Shantikunj, in East Midnapore’s Contai, where his parents and family reside, has seen him insist that no barriers be erected so that common people are not inconvenienced. Even though security at his Chinar Park flat has been upgraded, security requirements may lead him to look for a more centralised address.Soujanya is located within the Bhabanipur constituency, which Adhikari won by defeating Mamata. Incidentally, it is located less than 2km from her Kalighat residence. The residences of the chief secretary and the DGP are also within a 1-km radius of Soujanya.
Suvendu repeats ‘CM-for-all’ mantra
“A CM has to weigh his words. So talk less and work more. I am a CM for all,” Suvendu told supporters late on Saturday while returning to his ancestral home, Shantikunj, in Contai.Later, navigating through thousands of supporters, he said, “This is independence. Bhoy out, bhorsa in (fear out, trust in).”Amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram”, he added, “PM Modi said ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’. At Brigade, he also said the same thing.” As the crowd chanted, “Hisab liya jaega (everything will be accounted for),” the CM replied, “I am not saying that.”
