NEW DELHI: The Congress party is set to launch "systematic" and "serious" efforts to reclaim properties belonging to the party prior to its 1969 split, including its erstwhile headquarters at 7 Jantar Mantar Road.
The property, currently serving as the Delhi office of Janata Dal (United), holds significant historical value, having once been the hub of Congress operations in independent India.
Referring to a recent Supreme Court judgment, Congress General Secretary (Communication) and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh emphasised that the verdict has paved the way for reclaiming these disputed properties.
“There are a large number of properties, including in Delhi, that belong to the pre-1969 Indian National Congress (INC) that were subject to legislation. There is now a Supreme Court judgment, which says that all the pre-1969 properties in which the Congress had operated from belong to the INC. So, 7 Jantar Mantar Road, according to the Supreme Court judgment, belongs to the Congress,” Ramesh stated.
He made these remarks during a press conference held at the newly inaugurated Congress headquarters, alongside AICC Treasurer Ajay Maken and Media Department Head Pawan Khera.
Historically, Anand Bhavan, the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi family in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), served as the Congress headquarters during the freedom struggle.
After independence, the party shifted to Delhi, with 7 Jantar Mantar Road becoming its official head office in 1947. Following the 1969 split, the Congress under Indira Gandhi relinquished control of the property.
According to Rasheed Kidwai's book, 24 Akbar Road: A Short History of the People Behind the Rise and Fall of the Congress, the party temporarily operated from Windsor Palace and later moved to a property on Rajendra Prasad Road in 1971. In 1978, it shifted to bungalow no. 24 on Akbar Road, which remains a hub of Congress activities.
Making a case for reclaiming 7 Jantar Mantar Road, Ramesh highlighted that the Supreme Court judgment regarding a Bengaluru property set a precedent.
“We have taken possession of that property. All properties which have been subject to litigation—and 7 Jantar Mantar Road is the most prominent example—must be reclaimed. It’s a historic building; it relates to the history of the Indian National Congress as much as Anand Bhavan. But because of a variety of reasons, including the split, INC did not take possession of 7 Jantar Mantar Road,” he said.
He also noted Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s remarks on January 15, where he stressed the importance of leveraging the Supreme Court judgment to reclaim the properties.
Meanwhile, Ajay Maken stated that the process of relocating from the Akbar Road office to the newly inaugurated headquarters would be gradual, owing to the extensive records currently stored at Akbar Road.
He also dismissed any plans to relinquish bungalow no. 24, citing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s continued occupation of the Ashok Road property despite having a headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.