Agartala, Nov 30 (IANS) After West Bengal, Tripura Raj Bhavan will now be renamed as ‘Lok Bhavan’, effective from Monday, Governor N. Indrasena Reddy announced here on Sunday.

The Governor said that Raj Bhavan in Tripura will be officially renamed Lok Bhavan from Monday, December 1. The name change from Raj Bhavan to Lok Bhavan has been approved and will come into effect from Monday, Reddy told the media after flagging off the Mobile Health Care Unit Project of Sewa International and REC Foundation at Raj Bhavan.

He said that the decision has been taken as a mark of respect to democracy. The Governor further said that common citizens will be allowed to enter ‘Lok Bhavan’ during designated hours.

“With the name Raj Bhavan, there was an impression that it belonged to a royal dynasty or a king. Now that democracy prevails and governments are elected through a democratic system, that’s why Raj Bhavan has been renamed Lok Bhavan,” the Governor said.

An official said that from now on, the Raj Bhavan holdings in Tripura’s capital Agartala shall be named Lok Bhavan for all purposes.

“The official letterheads and all other papers relating to the Governor’s house will also have ‘Lok Bhavan’ instead of ‘Raj Bhavan’,” the official said, adding that the name plates and all signage on the gates and everywhere, the website and social media will also be changed accordingly.

In Kolkata, the ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday claimed that the Centre changed the name of Raj Bhavan to Lok Bhavan without a consultation with the West Bengal government.

“Raj Bhavan is now Lok Bhavan. Keeping in mind the 2026 state Assembly elections, such a move started with West Bengal. The notification to make Raj Bhavan into Lok Bhavan was for the whole country. So why was it done first in West Bengal? Why not in other states? Does that mean the Governor wants to run a parallel administration?” Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asked.

The name of the Raj Bhavan in West Bengal was changed on Saturday. Raj Bhavan, the Governor’s House, will now be known as Lok Bhavan.

The renaming was the brainchild of the incumbent Governor C. V. Ananda Bose, who wanted the name of the Governor to shed the symbolism of British colonialism. Thereafter, a proposal was sent from the office of the Governor to the office of President Droupadi Murmu regarding the name change. Finally, formal approval arrived from the President’s Secretariat, according to a notification issued from the Governor’s House on Friday.

The historic mansion Pushpabanta (or Pushpavanta) Palace, also known as Kunjaban Palace, which served as the Raj Bhavan until 2018, was built in 1917 by the then Tripura king Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya Debbarma Bahadur. Later, the Governor’s house was shifted to the Capital Complex area on the outskirts of the city.

The Tripura government, earlier this year, signed a lease agreement with a private company to make the 108-year-old Pushpabanta Palace in Agartala a 5-star hotel.

Various organisations, including the frontal wings of the ruling BJP’s ally Tipra Motha Party, staged a series of protests opposing the Tripura government’s move to privatise the iconic Pushpabanta Palace and convert it into a five-star hotel by a private group.

–IANS

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