After the historic victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded Odisha Assembly elections, a search is currently on in the eastern state not just for the next Chief Minister but also for the official CM’s residence.
The outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who ruled the state for 24 years, worked from his personal residence, Naveen Niwas, which effectively served as the CM’s residence.
Ever since he took oath as the Chief Minister in 2000, Patnaik opted to work from his personal residence and decided not to shift to a government-allocated house. As a result, there is said to be no official residence for the Chief Minister in the state.
Patnaik has been working from home for the last two-and-a-half decades. He performed all his responsibilities as the Chief Minister from his personal residence, a mansion built by his father and former CM Biju Patnaik.
Search on for official CM bungalow
While the BJP is yet to announce its CM face in Odisha, officials in the state have reportedly started looking for a suitable house for the new Chief Minister. For the same, multiple properties have been identified, however, the transition will not be immediate as the selected space will have to undergo necessary renovations and installation of facilities, reports said.
Among the shortlisted ones is the Grievance Cell of the former CM. Patnaik used to visit here to meet the general public.
Guest house
In the meantime, officials said that they are preparing a suite in the state guest house as a temporary accommodation for the new Chief Minister of the state.
Prior to Patnaik, the earlier two Chief Ministers — Hemananda Biswal and Janaki Ballabh Patnaik — used to live in a small bungalow, which was a single-storey building. After the removal of JB Patnaik in 1995, the CM office was shifted to a two-storey building, which was Naveen Patnaik’s Grievance Cell. Later, in 2000, after Naveen Patnaik became Odisha CM, he started living in his own bungalow.
Last week, Odisha witnessed the end of Naveen Patnaik’s 24-year rule after the BJP stormed to power by securing 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly in the 2024 elections. The BJD, meanwhile, could only manage 51 seats, while the Congress took 14 seats, and three were taken by Independent candidates.
Comments
0 comment