Congress facing eviction notice from 24, Akbar Road office in Delhi

Congress is formulating its strategy to counter the notices and contemplating moving the court, with leaders saying that the party and its workers have an emotional connection office.

New Delhi: The government has issued notices to the Congress to vacate 24, Akbar Road office, the iconic address of the party for the past 48 years, and 5, Raisina Road premises where Youth Congress functions, by March 28, sources said.

Sources said the notices were served mid-March and the party faces eviction, as it is the final notice sent by the Estate Department under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. The party has been told by the department that its new headquarters already functions from Indira Bhavan on Kotla Road and it is not entitled to hold on to the premises.

Congress is formulating its strategy to counter the notices and contemplating moving the court, with leaders saying that the party and its workers have an emotional connection with the 24, Akbar Road office, which became its hub in 1978 after the loss in the Lok Sabha elections after Emergency.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said the government should apply its rule uniformly to all and not single it out while BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Congress should shed the "sense of entitlement and unnecessary victimhood card", recalling the policy made under the UPA government that parties would shift their offices from Lutyens to DDU Marg or to Rouse Avenue.

While shifting to Indira Bhavan on Kotla Marg, Congress sources had said that it will not vacate 24, Akbar Road and it will continue to house some of its cells while saying that the BJP has not vacated its old headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road, even after shifting to DDU Marg.

Sources said the Congress is paying market rent for its 24, Akbar Road office and there were attempts to get the bungalow allocated to a party MP so that it could hold on to it but it did not materialise.

After her election loss following the lifting of Emergency, Indira Gandhi along with her supporters of the break-away faction of Congress had made 24, Akbar Road the party headquarters in January 1978. It was then allocated to Congress MP G Venkataswamy.

Much before Congress made 24, Akbar Road its headquarters, it was home for Myanmar's future leader Aung San Suu Kyi, then around 15 years, in the 1960s. Her mother was then appointed Myanmar’s ambassador to India. It also played host to Sir Reginald Maxwell, who was a member (Home) in Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's executive council.

Before 1978, the Congress had its headquarters on 7, Jantar Mantar Road and 5, Rajendra Prasad Road. The split in 1969 led to losing the office in Jantar Mantar Road and had moved to 5, Rajendra Prasad Road.