Tenant Buddha may be owner of a 700 sq ft flat

KOLKATA: His address remains the same 59B Palm Avenue. But chief minister Buddhdeb Bhattacharjee may have an elevation of status from tenant to owner of the two-room flat which has been his home for 30 years.
The West Bengal Housing Board says it is no special deal for the CM who does not yet own a property in Kolkata. The government housing estate at Palm Avenue has recently been brought under a scheme where tenants of such estates are offered ownership for a paltry sum, much lower than market rates.
No one knows if it will happen before the assembly polls but sources say that files have started moving in the state secretariat.
The flat is less than 700 sq ft and would be worth around Rs 28 lakh according to market rates, say sources. It is a simple home with none of the trappings of a chief minister's official residence. In fact, it could be the most spartan of all CM residences in the country. A newcomer would pass by without noticing it the only tell-tale signs are a few armed policemen patrolling the street corner where the building stands.
The same proposal has been on offer to tenants in government housing estates at Maniktala, Regent Estate, Kareya and Shampa Mirjanagar. The Kolkata Improvement Trust (KIT) has also come up with a similar proposal and handed over some flats to tenants.
Housing minister Gautam Deb said that no special decision has been taken to convert the rental apartment at Palm Avenue into an ownership apartment. "It's an ongoing process. The department did not do any favour to the CM. The proposal has been extended to other government housing estates. If the tenants agree then the CM will own the flat along with other tenants," said Deb.
Some of the chief minister's neighbours are former Pradesh Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharya, and Trinamool Congress leader Sardar Amjad Ali, who is a senior high court lawyer.
Bhattacharya had moved into this rental housing estate 40 years ago 10 years before the CM. The Congress veteran said he had heard of such a proposal but is yet to receive any formal offer from the government. "I do not think that the government can send the proposal now, when the assembly polls have been announced. It could have done this before the polls. I am not going to accept the offer. Let the new government come and decide," he said.
Ali, who pays Rs 900 as rent for the Palm Avenue flat, said that the government had floated the proposal months ago and he has already sent his consent letter. "I am not sure if the transfer process is completed," the lawyer said.
Earlier, there have been proposals to the CM to move out of his Palm Avenue residence on security grounds but he turned it down every time. It was even suggested that he move to Indira Bhavan, a grand bungalow where his mentor, former chief minister Jyoti Basu lived, but Bhattacharjee refused.