Congressmaylose itsheadquartersatLytyens'Delhi
The Congress may lose its headquarters at 24 Akbar Road as also the next door Congress Seva Dal office at 26 Akbar Road as also the Youth Congress office at 5 Raisina Road and a residence allotted to a Sonia Gandhi's aide at CII/109 in Chanakyapuri.
The Directorate of Estate in the Housing Ministry has revived its 2018 proposal for eviction of the party from the government bungalows in Lytyens' Delhi, sending it to the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation (CCA) headed by Home Minister Amit Shah for permission to serve the eviction notices, according to a financial daily.
The eviction proceedings were first started in 2015, but they were stayed by Delhi High Court in 2016. The report suggests that the government may extend allotment of 24 Akbar Road if the party agrees to vacate other three premises.
The AICC headquarters, which is accessible from the back of 10 Janpath, residence of Sonia Gandhi, is in a government bungalow on a sprawling 4,000 sq metre land with huge lawns, whose market rent would be Rs 2 lakh that will be charged if it comes under eviction. The bungalow, built by Sir Edwin Lutyens between 1911 and 1925, is with the Congress since 1978 and went on to construct all around the bungalow to accommodate its officebearers. It also has a passage to the next door Seva Dal office.
The stand of Directorate of Estate is that the Congress was allotted land in 2010 at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, on which the BJP's new headquarter is functioning past two years, on a condition that the party should complete the construction in three years and then vacate the government premises. While the work was done two years ago, the party has been seeking extension of the allocation of this bungalow.
Though the BJP shifted to its new address, it has not handed over the premises at 11 Ashoka Road. Instead, it has been using it as an election war room and for residences of some bachelor party leaders and workers. The BJP is reluctant to hand it over since it had made a lot of investment in building a big auditorium with modern equipment, said sources.