The Congress party has changed the address of its headquarters, located at 24 Akbar Road for almost five decades, to 9A, Kotla Marg. Party parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the new headquarters ‘Indira Bhawan’ on Wednesday. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party were also present on this occasion.
The new headquarters is located just one kilometer away from the five-storey BJP headquarters and is on Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg. However, Congress has opened its main gate on the rear Kotla Road. It is parallel to Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg. Earlier there was a plan to open the main gate of this headquarters on Deendayal Upadhyay Marg, but the party decided to change it.
Name change related to RSS
Congress made this change deliberately, so that its headquarters would not be named after Deendayal Upadhyay, because Upadhyay was a pracharak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and co-founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh. Congress’s rival BJP considers him as its ideologist, while Congress has been opposing his ideology.
Features of Indira Bhavan
‘Indira Bhawan’ has been built at a cost of approximately Rs 242 crore, preserving the party’s heritage with modernity. The building conforms to green building standards, including features such as solar panels and water harvesting systems. There is a hi-tech auditorium on the first floor and a total of 18 rooms. There are 24 rooms on the second floor, while other important rooms have been constructed on the third and fourth floors.
Party general secretary KC Venugopal said, “This building has been designed to meet the changing needs of the party, and is equipped with modern facilities. It pays tribute to the extraordinary past of the Congress.”
However, the Congress Party has not decided to vacate its former headquarters “24, Akbar Road” for the time being. The offices of various departments and cells of the party may be shifted to the new building, but the present headquarters will continue to be used. After the 1977 Lok Sabha elections, 24, Akbar Road Bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi was established as the AICC headquarters.
