Congress likely to shift its headquarters to 'Indira Bhawan' at Kotla Marg next week

New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) The Congress will have its new headquarters at 'Indira Bhawan' on Kotla Marg here which is likely to be inaugurated next week.

Sources said top Congress leaders are likely to attend the inauguration of the new building at 9A, Kotla Marg, which had been under construction for several years.

However, the sources said the party will not vacate its present 24, Akbar Road office, which has been its headquarters since 1978 after the Congress (I) was formed, and it will continue to house some of its cells.

The construction of the new AICC headquarters, which will be named 'Indira Bhawan' was delayed by several years owing to "paucity of funds" ever since the Congress lost its government at the Centre.

The sources added that the offices of administration, accounts and others will shift initially.

The various frontal organisations of the Congress - the Mahila Congress, Youth Congress and the NSUI, and the party’s departments and cells are also likely to shift to the new premises.

The sources said that the 24, Akbar Road bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi was transformed into the AICC headquarters after the party's defeat in 1977 Lok Sabha polls.

The Akbar Road bungalow also once housed Sir Reginald Maxwell, who was member, Home, in Vieroy Lord Linlithgow's executive council, the sources said, adding that the grandson of British officer Alan Braithwaite had once visited the place from the UK.

The BJP has also not vacated its old party headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road, even after shifting to its new headquarters at Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg. PTI