Congress now has a new address; will the Kotla Road HQ change the party’s fortunes?

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for saying that country got true independence after the consecration of Ram temple. They said Bhagwat did not respect country’s freedom and the Constitution.

By choosing to attack RSS and the BJP during the inauguration of the Congress new headquarters at Kotla Road, the Congress framed the change of address as an ideological milestone. Kharge said the Congress headquarters would become the centre of fighting forces that are working against the Constitution and democracy.

Gandhi said, “we are fighting a civilisational war” against the BJP and the RSS and urged his partymen to take ideas from this building and spread them in the rest of the country. “This building has emerged from the blood of our Congress people and not just Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Patel ji.”

The inauguration of the new six-story headquarters with its face kept on Kotla Road to avoid sharing the same address with the BJP and Sangh ideologue, Deen Dayal Upadhaya, happened with hoisting of party flag by Sonia Gandhi on a foggy day in the national capital. Curiously, the entry to the event was only open to the party functionaries and senior leaders, while workers and media were kept out. Several present and former chief ministers, state party heads, party MPs attended the function.

During his speech, Gandhi charged that what Bhagwat said amounted treason as the latter was saying that the Constitution was invalid and the fight against the British was invalid. “To say that India did not get independence in 1947 is an insult to every single Indian person,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi said his party was fighting not only with the BJP and the RSS but also with the Indian state as they had captured every single institution in this country.

"The people who are in power today do not salute the tricolour, do not believe in the national flag, do not believe in the Constitution. And, they have a completely different vision of India than we do. They want India to be run by a shady, hidden secret society; they want India to be run by one man and they want to crush the voice of this country."

Gandhi also singled out the Election Commission, saying they hid numbers of voters in Maharashtra from Lok Sabha elections to assembly elections. "We are not comfortable with the way the EC is holding elections," he said.

However, Gandhi’s statement that "we are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian state itself" did not go down well with the BJP.

BJP chief J.P. Nadda alleged on X that it is not a secret that Gandhi and his ecosystem have close links with urban naxals and the deep state who want to "defame, demean and discredit" India. He said Congress supported those who wanted to weaken India.

Union Minister Hardeep Puri said, “Mohan Bhagwat said that in 1947 was political freedom as we became an independent from 190 years of colonial domination. But the Ram Mandir, built after 500 years, speaks to a cultural, religious and spiritual ethos. So, it's a perfectly sensible statement. But Rahul Gandhi cannot understand that.”

The new office

The Congress’s relocation to its new headquarters symbolises a fresh start. The new facility, equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, may reflects a shift in the way political management will be conducted, replacing cramped and disorganised spaces with modern meeting rooms, an auditorium, and comprehensive facilities to accommodate the party’s various units.

Hardly a few meters away are the offices of the CPI(M) and the CPI, while DMK’s office is at the far end of the Deen Dayal Upadhaya Marg. The Lutyens Delhi may the seat of power as offices of central government are located there, but the political core has moved to central Delhi where the new head quarters of the political parties are now located. The BJP office is also a few hundred meters away.

These offices had shifted on the orders of the Supreme Court which wanted the parties to move their offices from the Lutyens Bungalow Zone to decongest those areas. The BJP was the first to move out in 2018.

For the Congress, the move from 24 Akbar Road marks the end of an era. This iconic address, serving as the party’s headquarters for nearly five decades, has witnessed the rise of four Prime Ministers – Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh. It is a place steeped in history and nostalgia, having been the hub for three generations of Congress leaders and workers.

The story of 24 Akbar Road goes beyond politics. In the 1960s, it was known as Burma House, hosting Burmese ambassador Daw Khin Kyi and her well known daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Even before that, it was the residence of British civil servant Sir Reginald Maxwell.

It will be nearly after 50 years that the party will move its office from iconic 24 Akbar Road. The Congress was forced to make this bungalow its headquarters in 1978 after the split in the party and defeat in general elections, the previous year. At that time the bungalow was allotted to MP G. Venkatswamy.

Previously, after independence, the party set up its headquarters at 7, Jantar Mantar road and in the early 1970s on the Rajendra Prasad road.

The Kotla Road will be the fourth headquarters for the party.

The Congress has picked up the auspicious time after the makar sankranti to inaugurate its new office. What everyone will be waiting for is how the new HQ will change the fortunes of the grand old party.