It is a matter of time. The ancestral house of former chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray is going to change hands soon and there is apprehension that the century-old building will be pulled down to make room for an apartment.

The two-storey bungalow at 2 Beltala Road stands on 18 cottah of prime land. The chamber of Sidhartha Shankar Ray used to be on the ground floor while his personal library was on the first floor. The first floor had a wooden floor.

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The house was the residence of the chief minister from 1972-77. Jyoti Basu, Snehangshu Kanta Acharya, Bhupesh Gupta were frequent visitors while Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited the house several times.

Siddhartha Shankar Ray (October 20, 1920- November 6, 2010) was the maternal grandson of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. Ray was born in this house and two renowned doctors of that time, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy and Sir Kedar Chandra Das, a gynaecologist were present when Ray was born. CR Das and his wife Basanti Devi were also present. Aparna Devi, Ray’s mother, who was Deshbandhu and Basanti Devi’s only daughter, was a well known kirtan singer.

Even after becoming the chief minister, Ray did not change the name plate and it still bears the name of Sudhir Ray who got this house from his friend, a well-known barrister of that time.

After the death of Ray and his wife Maya who were a childless couple, the house was being looked after for quite some time by Ray’s secretary Mita Walliah, popularly known as Mita da. He also died soon after.

The house is now being used as a home stay. The rent of the ground floor rooms are Rs 3,000 per day while the deluxe bedroom of Ray is rented out at Rs 4,000 per night. Bengali food is served to the guests.

Ray used to love driving and had a Standard Herald and a Mercedes Benz. Old timers still remember Ray driving the vehicle with Mrs Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister, seated on the back seat.

Ray had a prized possession, an Armstrong Siddeley, which was presented to his daughter Maya by Dr Kiran Bhattacharya, a well-known doctor who was stationed in London. All the three cars are lying with a well-known vintage car collector in the city.

Ray was often seen taking morning or evening walks on Beltala Road after his government was defeated by the Left Front in 1977. When he was the Governor of Punjab or Indian Ambassador to the United States, he used to come to his Beltala Road residence and spend a month. Ray studied in Mitra Institution and later became a graduate from Presidency College