What the long-shrinking Congress party can still lay claim to is a treasure trove of history. Its new headquarters, inaugurated on Wednesday, reflects this – being virtually a walk through the 139-year-old history of the grand old party. What it isn’t is 24, Akbar Road, the Congress office with huge lawns, open spaces and old world charm which many leaders, especially of the older generation, were nostalgic for on Wednesday. The new, multi-storey HQ is more reflective of what political parties are now seen to resemble – structures run increasingly like corporates, with media access restricted. The building that has been named ‘Indira Bhawan’, constructed by L&T and designed by Hafeez Contractor, accordingly has several board rooms on all its six floors, a large atrium and, in places, an “open office” concept. Making up for the loss of the nearly four-decade provenance of 24, Akbar Road, the new 9 A, Kotla Marg, property has glimpses from history capturing the Congress’s journey since 1885, including rare photographs and quotes from its stalwarts, icons and founding fathers adorning the walls. All the Congress Prime Ministers and their governance achievements, as also details of important sessions of the AICC, are depicted in detail. "The office has a very contemporary look, but the feel is historic, impactful. Every floor depicts an era of the Congress – 1885 to the present," a senior leader said. According to party sources, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra played a major role in designing the interiors. The topmost floor houses the offices of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The fourth floor has offices of AICC general secretaries, plus rooms for heads of the party’s frontal organisations like the Youth Congress, NSUI and Mahila Congress. The third floor, with no cabins and an “open office” concept, seats secretaries and in-charges. The second floor is earmarked for various departments and cells of the party, while the first floor has an auditorium. The ground floor has a library, named after Manmohan Singh, a media briefing room and a cafeteria. According to a leader, the whole feel is of “virtually walking through an exhibition hall”. “Every wall is covered with historic photographs. The insides are circular… with one period depicted on each floor – so 1885 to roughly 1920-25, then to Independence, the Jawaharlal Nehru years, Indira Gandhi’s period, the Rajiv Gandhi era, the governments of P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh to the present.” A leader put the tally of photographs inside at “about 246”. These include the photograph of the first Congress first president Womesh Chandra Banerjee placed next to that of current president Kharge at the reception on the ground floor. At at time when the party is trying to weave Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar’s legacies into a common narrative of social justice – and claiming itself to be the true inheritor of the same – Ambedkar’s photograph with the quote “So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you”, also finds prominent space on the ground floor. Other photographs include Gandhi at the Second Round Table Conference in London, those related to the Non-Cooperation movement, Salt Satyagraha, Quit India Movement, Nehru with Albert Einstein, Lal Bahadur Shastri ploughing the field, the surrender of Pakistani forces at the end of the 1971 War, Rajiv Gandhi signing peace agreements, P V Narasimha Rao with then president Shankar Dayal Sharma, Sonia Gandhi’s famous 2004 Parliament Central Hall moment where she announced her decision not to take up the post of PM, and the achievements of Manmohan Singh government including a photograph of his with Barack Obama. From more recent times, there are photos of the Bharat Jodo Yatras led by Rahul Gandhi. There is another difference from 24, Akbar Road. “There, leaders from outside Delhi and ticket seekers could freely move around, meeting leaders in various rooms. There was no issue of crowding because of the huge open spaces. In the new office, we will have to restrict entry floor wise,” a leader said.
