On the auspicious event of Makar Sankranti, January 15, Sonia Gandhi, in her capability as chairperson of the Congress Party in Parliament (CPP), will inaugurate Indira Bhavan, the brand new headquarters of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The occasion was initially deliberate for the occasion’s Foundation Day, December 28, however the dying of Dr Manmohan Singh and the next nationwide mourning delayed the proceedings.
The two-acre plot the place the brand new workplace is situated is bounded by Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg and Kotla Marg. To keep away from having the title of the Jan Sangh stalwart and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) icon, Upadhyay, the Congress in its handle has chosen to place the entrance gate on Kotla Marg, which is actually the rear of the plot. As a consequence, 9A Kotla Marg will grow to be the brand new handle of the Congress.
Originally generally known as Rouse Avenue (named after Sir Alexander Macdonald Rouse, the superintending engineer who oversaw the New Delhi mission a century in the past), the street was renamed in 1970 after the founding General Secretary of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, who constructed the occasion between 1953 and 1968. The Jan Sangh had received the 1967 native elections in Delhi, and the regime led by Vijay Kumar Malhotra renamed the street and positioned a statue of Upadhyay in a park that now faces the swank headquarters of the BJP at 6A, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.
A Back-Door Entrance
This is the second time the Congress has opted for a back-door entrance. Jawahar Bhavan, situated on Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road and housing the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, is on a plot whose unique handle was 3 Raisina Road. It was initially constructed because the AICC workplace however was handed over to the Foundation after Rajiv Gandhi’s tragic assassination in 1991. The plot was reverse 6 Raisina Road, which was then occupied by Opposition stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Thus, the Congress management selected the back-door entrance for the premises.
Political events and establishments are allotted plots for his or her places of work within the Rouse Avenue space. The Gandhi Peace Foundation, the place Jayaprakash Narayan determined that Morarji Desai can be the Janata Prime Minister in 1977, is situated on this street. Other places of work right here embody these of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Rouse Avenue can be the location of particular courts the place instances involving VVIPs, filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), are adjudicated.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) arrange its headquarters, Ajoy Bhavan, at 15 Kotla Marg in 1972. Named after Ajoy Ghose, common secretary of the undivided CPI, the workplace faces the location of the unique Central Jail of Delhi, which was relocated to Tihar in 1957. An adjoining bungalow was used within the Fifties to incarcerate Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of Jammu & Kashmir. The CPI was India’s principal opposition occasion till 1967, however its prominence light within the seventies because it moved to Kotla Marg. Today, CPI has two MPs every within the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The Beginning With Anand Bhavan
The historical past of the Indian National Congress headquarters, which can have a good time its one hundred and fortieth anniversary in December 2025, begins in 1930, when Motilal Nehru constructed Anand Bhavan in Allahabad (now Prayagraj). His earlier dwelling, adjoining to Anand Bhavan and later renamed Swaraj Bhavan, was devoted to the nation and have become the workplace of the AICC.
In 1931, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at Swaraj Bhavan included 4 members from the Nehru household: Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kamla Nehru, and Motilal’s son-in-law, Ranjit Sitaram Pandit (husband of Vijay Laxmi Pandit, Jawaharlal’s sister). As the occasion strikes into Indira Bhavan in 2025, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shall be a part of the CWC.
The AICC workplace moved to New Delhi in 1947, simply earlier than Independence. The CWC deliberated on the Partition Plan at its new workplace, 7 Jantar Mantar Road, on June 15, 1947. This workplace was extensively utilized by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for occasion work. In 1959, when Indira Gandhi grew to become Congress President, 7 Jantar Mantar Road grew to become her workplace.
History Of Shifting Addresses
When the Congress break up in 1969, with Indira Gandhi’s supporters requisitioning a gathering of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the official occasion, led by S. Nijalingappa and known as Congress (Organisation), retained management over 7 Jantar Mantar Road. In 1977, the merger of the Congress (O) into the Janata Party led to the Janata Party headquarters being situated at these premises. After a sequence of splits within the Janata motion, the present occupants of the workplace embody the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U), together with industrial entities reminiscent of Rentokil Pest Control and Antim Yatra Funeral Service. Ownership of seven Jantar Mantar Road, as per a notification in 1993, now lies with the Central Government.
After the 1969 break up, the Indira Gandhi faction of the Congress held its session at Mavlankar Hall, with Jagjivan Ram presiding. In 1971, the Election Commission recognised the occasion, which swept the polls, as Congress (Jagjivan). Two bungalows on close by Raisina Road—3 and 5—have been used for ancillary occasions in the course of the 1969 session. These two bungalows later grew to become a part of the AICC setup, though the occasion headquarters remained at 21 Windsor Place.
The AICC subsequently moved to five Rajendra Prasad Road, which had been occupied by Morarji Desai as Deputy Prime Minister till 1969, when he give up the Indira authorities after the break up. 5 Rajendra Prasad Road noticed each the triumph of the 1971 ballot victory and the darkish days of the Emergency. Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma and D.Okay. Barooah presided over the occasion throughout this time.
The 1978 Split
The Congress confronted yet one more break up in January 1978, and the occasion led by Indira Gandhi moved to its present premises at 24 Akbar Road, adjoining to 10 Janpath. Now the residence of Sonia Gandhi, this bungalow had beforehand served because the workplace of the Indian Youth Congress in the course of the tenure of Ambika Soni as president, with Sanjay Gandhi as its strongest National Council member.
The historical past of the 1978 break up is fascinating. When Chief Election Commissioner S.L. Shakhder adjudicated the break up, he recognised the faction led by Indira Gandhi because the “actual Congress”, entitled to operate below the title and magnificence of the Indian National Congress. Shakhder famous that the opposite faction had seen many exits and entries. For occasion, Okay. Brahmananda Reddy, who had been elected Congress President in May 1977 and headed the occasion towards which Indira Gandhi revolted in 1978, later joined Congress (I). Devraj Urs, one in every of Indira Gandhi’s lieutenants in 1978, was heading the opposing faction on the time of the adjudication. V.M. Syed Mohammed, the lawyer who initially represented the ‘different Congress’ within the case, had crossed over to Indira’s occasion and had been appointed High Commissioner in London.
Shakhder forbade the ‘different Congress’ from styling itself because the Indian National Congress and assigned it the title Indian Congress (Socialist). Later, Sharad Pawar headed that occasion, which merged with the primary Congress occasion in December 1985 at a rally in Nagpur. This merger resulted in 3 Raisina Road, which had been the headquarters of Congress (S), being handed over to the dad or mum occasion.
Jawahar Bhavan, situated on the plot of the unique 3 Raisina Road, housed extension places of work of the AICC till May 1991. Among its occupants was Pranab Mukherjee, who headed the occasion’s communications and different departments in the course of the 1991 elections. Jitendra Prasada, political secretary to the then Congress President Rajiv Gandhi, additionally used the premises.
At final, the AICC can have its personal premises in New Delhi. The basis stone of Indira Bhavan was laid by Sonia Gandhi, as Congress President, on the occasion’s one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary in December 2009. The mission took 15 years to return to fruition. Work on the close by BJP nationwide headquarters at 6A Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg started in August 2016, was accomplished in 18 months, and the inauguration was held in February 2018.
(Shubhabrata Bhattacharya is a retired editor and a public affairs commentator)
Disclaimer: These are the private opinions of the creator