For the failure of the state government to pay dues of Rs 150 crore to a hydropower company, the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered the attachment of Himachal Bhawan, located in the heart of Delhi, on November 18. Before this, came another attachment — one that developed silently, without anyone’s orders, and went unnoticed. “I am 91. I do not step out of Palampur now. But I have visited Himachal Bhawan (at Mandi House) many times in many capacities — as a BJP worker, MP, minister, and chief minister. Whenever I went there, I never felt out of place in the national capital. I had a place to call my own. I was always among my own people. Apne log, apna khana, apnapan,” says former chief minister Shanta Kumar. Former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal remembers the room he used to stay in. “When I was elected MP from Hamirpur for the first time in 1989, I used to stay in room no. 504. Maheshwar Singh (the then Lok Sabha member from Mandi) was in room no. 502, and Shanta Kumar (the then Kangra Lok Sabha member) was in room no. 506. That small room was my drawing room, my office, and my bedroom,” says Dhumal, who is recuperating from an illness and has been advised by doctors to speak less. Another former chief minister, Jai Ram Thakur, has not forgotten the midnight knocks. “When I became a minister in the then Prem Kumar Dhumal government, I once stayed in Himachal Bhawan during a visit to Delhi. At 2 am, there were loud knocks at my door. When I opened it, I was shocked to see fire brigade personnel. I was told that a fire had broken out in the building and that I had to be evacuated. During another stay as a minister, there was an earthquake late at night, and I had to be evacuated again. On both occasions, we ran down the stairs from the fifth floor,” he recalls. Still, Thakur says he wants to visit the place again and again, as “Himachaliyat lives in the Himachal Bhawan.” “It is full of apnapan. Yeh ek chhota sa ashiana hai (This is a small dwelling place). Centrally located, I find it more comfortable than Himachal Sadan (at Chanakyapuri). Even when I was not an MLA, we would visit Himachal Bhawan. Three or four of us party workers used to share one room”. The incumbent chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, can empathise with his predecessor, as he was in the same boat — not in the same room, as they belong to rival parties — but he understands what it feels like to “share and care.” “I have an old relationship with Himachal Bhawan, dating back to my student days. I was associated with NSUI and often visited Delhi. We were always short of money. Two or three people would pool in money and share one room. Rooms were given to MLAs, ministers, and MPs. We struggled a lot to get one.” “Jab paise khatm ho jaate the, to bus mein baith kar Shimla vaapis aa jaate the (When we ran out of money, we would catch a bus to Shimla),” Sukhu recalls. “But we would go back to Himachal Bhawan, kyonki yeh Himachaliyon ka ek thikana hai (as it is a place for Himachalis).” The Bhawan beckoned Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri when he was a journalist. “I was in Delhi and was working as a journalist. Whenever (the then CM) Virbhadra Singh visited Delhi, he would stay at Himachal Bhawan, and I would go there to meet him. Our meetings would continue late into the night,” Agnihotri says. “Later, I entered politics, became an MLA, and eventually a minister in Virbhadra’s government. There came a time when Virbhadra and I together visited Himachal Bhawan in our official capacities on many occasions.” Agnihotri believes the building is a vital link between the state Congress unit and the central party headquarters. “Our party meetings are held here. We send lists from Shimla, but katani-chhatani (pruning and screening) happens here only.” Former Union minister Anurag Thakur shares an Arun Jaitley connection with the place. “Before I became an MP, I used to visit Himachal Bhawan. During one of my stays here, I got a call from Arun Jaitley ji (the late Union minister). He asked, ‘What are you doing? Just switch on the TV and see what is happening.’ I turned on the TV and saw a scam that had hit the headlines and parliamentarians,” recalls the Hamirpur MP. “On another occasion, I had to participate in the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) elections. Jagmohan Dalmiya was running for president. Jaitley ji and I went together for the election. At that time too, I was staying at Himachal Bhawan.” Another attraction of Himachal Bhawan, according to Anurag Thakur, is Himachali food. “It’s like ghar ka khana (home-cooked food),” he says. Pradesh Congress Committee president Pratibha Singh enjoys the homely atmosphere of Himachal Bhawan, where she receives love and respect. She recalls an interview in the past when waiters made a point of touching her feet. “It is all because of my husband, the late Virbhadra Singh. People love him a lot,” she says. Former PCC president Kuldeep Singh Rathore has sweet memories of the place. “I have been visiting Himachal Bhawan since my NSUI days. I love taking a stroll after dinner and having rasmalai at the nearby Bengali Market. I also enjoy watching plays at the FICCI auditorium in the vicinity.” If Rathore is ever spotted carrying suitcases at Himachal Bhawan, there’s no need to suspect anything. “I like to get my clothes dry-cleaned at a famous dry-cleaner's at the nearby market. I bring my clothes all the way from Shimla. It’s a habit I have cultivated over the years,” he says.
