Indira Bhawan: Congress moves to a new HQ, biding farewell to Akbar Road after 50 years

Named the “Indira Gandhi Bhawan,” the new Congress headquarters is set to host 400 top leaders from across India at its inauguration. Attendees will include members of the Congress Working Committee, Permanent and Special Invitees, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents, Congress Legislature Party leaders, MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, former Chief Ministers, ex-PCC Presidents, former CLP leaders, and Union Ministers.

The Congress, under Indira Gandhi’s leadership, moved into 24, Akbar Road in 1978—a year marked by turbulence in the party’s history. Following the Emergency, Indira was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections, marking the first time Congress was out of power since Independence. During this period, the party had also split, and Indira’s faction was without an office. It was then that MP Gaddam Venkatswamy offered his official residence—24, Akbar Road—to the party, providing them with a base.

This was not the first time the Congress under Indira found itself without a headquarters. A decade earlier, following the 1969 party split, her faction had lost access to 7, Jantar Mantar Road, which had served as the Congress headquarters since Independence.