The Congress’s new headquarters is near the new BJP office on DDU Marg. It is set to be named ‘Indira Bhawan’ and inaugurated on her birth anniversary.
New Delhi: After the BJP moved out of Lutyens’ Delhi to its new office on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, the Congress is set to follow suit, as mandated by the Supreme Court.
A two-acre plot had been allotted to the grand old party on DDU Marg in 2009, but the Congress took a while in getting construction going. Now, with work going full-tilt, the party expects to shift by November this year. Party sources told ThePrint that the deadline given to the contractors is the second week of November, so that the party can shift on 19 November, the birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi. The building will be named Indira Bhawan.
As per the deadline issued by the Ministry of Urban Development, the Congress has to vacate 24, Akbar Road, its home for forty years, by October this year. It also has to vacate 26, Akbar Road, the office of the Congress Seva Dal, and 5, Raisina Road, the office of the Indian Youth Congress.
The Congress, however, does not want its new home to be associated with Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the Jana Sangh stalwart whom the road is named after. Thus, it is taking advantage of the plot being located at the corner of DDU Marg and Kotla Road to open up an entrance on the latter, and list its address as 9, Kotla Road.
Plan for the new headquarters
The Congress’s new home is planned to be a six-floor building, of which one entire floor will be reserved for the party president. Other amenities would include an auditorium and a media conference room, among other things.
“Currently, the structure is almost complete. Now, the exteriors will be worked upon starting in March,” said a Congress leader privy to the information. “We hope to complete it by the November deadline.”
If that happens, it would mean the BJP and the Congress will go into next year’s Lok Sabha elections as next-door neighbours.