Nabanna or Writers’ Building: Will BJP leave Mamata’s highrise and run government from the iconic heritage building?
Nabanna, a building in Howrah, houses the current State Secretariat of the Government of West Bengal. It was inaugurated in October 2013 after Mamata Banerjee came to power in West Bengal.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the West Bengal Assembly election 2026 after 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule, one of key questions is that whether the saffron party will run the government from Nabanna in Howrah or historic Writers’ Building in Kolkata.
Earlier, BJP State President Samik Bhattacharya was quoted as saying that the BJP would run the administration from the Writers' Building. He said that the BJP had maintained back in 2021 that if the party comes to power, it would run the government from the Writers' Building.
Nabanna, a building in Howrah, houses the current State Secretariat of the Government of West Bengal. It was inaugurated in October 2013 after Mamata Banerjee came to power in West Bengal.
It is likely that the shift to iconic Writers' Building may happen soon after the BJP government takes oath on May 9.
Writers' Building is a landmark of immense historical and political significance – it occupies a central space in Bengal's public life, standing as a witness to the state's evolution and its role in the Indian independence movement.
It originally served as a place for the junior writers who worked for the British East India Company. After independence, the building served as the place where power reside – the administrative building, housing offices of the Chief Minister, cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats.
Before the polling in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alleged that the the TMC government in West Bengal was not run from the state secretariat but by criminals sheltered by the party.
“The TMC's 'nirmam [cruel] sarkar' doesn't run from the Nabanna. It is run by goons and criminals, requiring the intervention of the high court and the country's apex court to bring the government back on track,” PM Modi said.
As the BJP won, a section of West Bengal government employees celebrated the BJP's assembly poll victory at the Nabanna, raising slogans and waving saffron flags during office hours.
Slogans such as 'Jai Shree Ram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram' echoed within the multi-storied building in Howrah.
"It was not something we had seen before inside Nabanna. A group of employees suddenly started raising slogans," said an official, adding that while the work was not disrupted, the sloganeering did catch people by surprise.
"There was no confrontation or disruption of work, but the slogans did catch many by surprise," he said.
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