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The first big test for the Congress in the new Indira Bhawan building will be the Delhi polls
24 Akbar Road has seen many changes and renovations to accommodate the changing needs and times. File pic/PTI
A lush green bamboo tree, the white walls, and the sprawling lawn. That’s what strikes you first as you enter 24 Akbar Road, which has been the address of the Congress for over four decades. The party is now packing its bags to shift to a new address: 9A Kotla Road. The similarity in the circumstances of the two occasions cannot be missed.
It was a chilly January when the Congress shifted to 24 Akbar Road as Indira Gandhi put the party back together after a split. It had been a story of turmoil then. Now, as the Congress shifts in January 2025, it faces the same challenges that Indira Gandhi faced then. It is in opposition, has recently lost elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, and is a truncated version of what it was in 2014 when it was last in power.
For those covering the party, like us, the Akbar Road office is a treasure trove of stories and news. Its location is impeccable. There is a small gate behind the bamboo tree leading to 10 Janpath, where Sonia Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi live. It has been the gate to power for long. Across the road is the Air Force building, and now a new Gujarat Bhawan has come up too. Not too far away is the home of the late former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
24 Akbar Road has seen many changes and renovations to accommodate the changing needs and times. Small portacabins have been set up to make offices for many smaller departments. But in the main original building is the biggest room, which is the office of the Congress president. For the first time in over two decades, the nameplate belongs to a non-Gandhi: Mallikarjun Kharge. It’s the same room that saw the palace intrigue and ouster of Sitaram Kesri when some Congress old-timers like Digvijaya Singh and Ahmed Patel convinced Sonia Gandhi to come out of self-imposed exile and join active politics. She has been the most successful and lucky Congress president in recent times, ensuring that the party was in power for two terms from 2004 to 2014.
This room briefly saw Rahul Gandhi as party president, but the 2014 crushing defeat meant he gave up the fight to lead the party. It was in the room next door that the post-mortem Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was held in which Rahul Gandhi blamed many of his senior colleagues for not supporting him.
The building has seen many changes in power equations. Sonia’s men replaced those of Kesri, and she held an iron grip on the party, with many whom she had no trust in being left out in the cold of the lawn. It led to Sharad Pawar walking out on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s “foreign origin”. It has seen Rahul’s men gain control of the party. And now Priyanka, who holds a room next to that of the party president, has emerged as another power centre.
The Congress shifts into Indira Bhawan. It has modern, state-of-the-art facilities to help the party deal with the changed times. It is also based on Vastu principles. The first big test in the new building will be the Delhi polls. As Congress grapples to take charge of the INDIA bloc, it finds itself isolated. Not many of the allies want the Congress to call the shots. Will Vastu and the new address change its fortunes?
24 Akbar Road leaves behind many stories, intrigues, secrets, and skeletons. The truncated big bamboo tree at this old office reflects what the Congress has become now.
