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Journalism of Courage
Eight years after it was sold to Bharat Hotels by then Left Front government for Rs 52 crore,the Great Eastern Hotel in Kolkata is all set to be reopened in a new avatar on November 19 this year.
Renamed as Lalit Great Eastern Hotel,the sale of the heritage hotel was one the biggest success story of then CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees industrial reconstruction programme in West Bengal. His decision to sell the government-owned hotel built in 1840 by a Briton,David Wilson had faced stiff resistance from several quarters,including its own trade wing CITU . The state government now has only 10 per cent stake in the hotel.
Though it is unclear if Bhattacharjee will be invited to attend the re-opening ceremony or not,his rival and CM Mamata Banerjee has already been invited by the new owners of the hotel.
The invitation to the chief minister for presiding over the ceremony was sent on August 10.
