From 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Marg to 5, Raisina Road: How Congress may lose its landmark ‘War Room’ in Delhi

On the verge of losing a landmark address in New Delhi, the Congress leadership launched a last-ditch effort to save its ‘War Room’ at 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj (GRG) Marg that had played a pivotal role in the grand old party’s 2009 electoral success. On 14 October, 2023, the AICC’s war room was to shift to 5, Raisina Road to share workstations with the Indian Youth Congress. But former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi swung in action requesting a woman member of the Rajya Sabha to seek allotment of 15, GRG from the house committee. Informed sources said it is now up to the Rajya Sabha house committee to look into the Congress MP’s request or reject its claim. There are reports that a media baron-turned-independent MP has already secured allotment of 15, GRG. As a mark to show business as usual and to reinforce its claim, the grand old party on October 14th night held a meeting of the screen committee for Rajasthan assembly polls at 15, GRG. 15, GRG housing the Congress War Room was allocated to Pradeep Bhattacharya who recently retired from the upper house. In the past, 15, GRG had a glamorous allottee, actress Rekha who had served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha during 2012-18. Rekha did not formally join the Congress but she had graciously loaned her premises to the party fighting a grim battle against the Narendra Modi-led BJP in 2013-14. Rekha had, in fact, visited 15, GRG once at night to see the house before Rajiv Shukla and Ahmed Patel (now dead) had persuaded her to give the house for the Congress War Room. In the past 48 hours when it became public that the party would be vacating 15, GRG, many senior party leaders were intrigued and upset at why none of its current party MPs from the Rajya Sabha, having lavish private houses, mansions and apartments in New Delhi, had not come forward to follow Rekha’s footsteps. It is an open secret that an AICC general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan has a private house in Jor Bagh while three lawyers in the upper house have palatial and prized properties in South Delhi. In fact, a closer scrutiny revealed at least half a dozen Congress MPs who requested the house committee of the Rajya Sabha to let the party retain 15, GRG in exchange for forgoing a fancy address in Lutyens’ Delhi. If party insiders are to be believed, Rahul Gandhi too was upset over his party MPs’ indifference. Rahul was reportedly alerted by a woman member in the AICC media department. Incidentally, over a dozen Congress Working Committee members have had close associations with 15, GRG including a former caretaker-cum-manager of the War Room who has now been elevated as a CWC member. In Congress contemporary history, 15, GRG has been in an elite league of several important residences in New Delhi such as 2A Motilal Nehru Marg, 99, South Avenue, and 64, Lodhi Estate which have emerged as a rival to the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road. Successive Congress leaders have looked outside the party office to bring in an element of professionalism and urgency, particularly during or closer to the general elections. While Sanjay and Indira Gandhi preferred to function from their residence, as the Congress president and prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, had opted for 2A, Motilal Nehru Marg. Narasimha Rao functioned from the prime minister’s residence, while Sitaram Kesri did not get the opportunity to lead any electoral campaign from the front. The 2004 general elections saw the emergence of 99, South Avenue and 64, Lodhi Estate as the Congress’s ‘War Rooms’. Initially, 99, South Avenue was allotted to the Congress Rajya Sabha MP RP Goenka, who, in turn, handed the flat over to Sonia Gandhi for the party’s use. Sonia used it to set up the party’s high-profile department of planning, policy, information and coordination. Each day, a team consisting of Jairam Ramesh, Salman Khurshid, Janardhan Dwivedi and others would meet at 99, South Avenue, a small flat that used to serve earlier as the venue for the meetings of the Congress’s think tank. At 99, South Avenue, traditional modes of managing elections were scrapped in favour of a more corporate style. Professional advertising and marketing agencies such as Leo Burnett and Perfect Relations were hired. The Congress managers realised that there was no way they could match the high-decibel BJP campaign, given the party’s paltry twenty-crore-rupee budget. The Congress, instead of going with a mega campaign, focused on a regional strategy with the motto, ‘Think global, act local’. Once 2004 general elections were over, 99, South Avenue began seeing factional wars among the party leaders. By January 2006, internal bickering within the Congress gained such proportions that the flat had to be locked up to prevent its ‘misuse’. Party leaders Janardhan Dwivedi, Jairam Ramesh, Salman Khurshid had chalked out their own courses and their minions constantly worked at cross-purposes. What was worse was that Sonia was constantly flooded with complaints about the flat serving as a ‘conspiracy centre’ against one leader or the other. Fed up with the squabbles, Sonia ordered the then AICC treasurer Motilal Vora to close shop. As the 2009 general elections inched closer, 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road became a rival to 24 Akbar Road. While Motilal Vora continued to chew paan and offer endless cups of tea to his visitors, including the media at 24, Akbar Road, the ‘real action’ had shifted a few kilometres away. 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road belonged to Shobhana Bhartia, the elegant proprietor of the Hindustan Times group, a Congress sympathiser and nominated member of the Rajya Sabha then. As Bhartia, a vegetarian and fitness fanatic, had her own comfortable residence in the posh Friends’ Colony complete with a home gym, she had donated the house to the Congress just as Goenka had given his 99, South Avenue. Every day, seventeen senior Congress leaders would meet at 11 am in the ‘war-room’ and reassemble there at 6 pm. In between, Rahul Gandhi and a dozen or so professionals belonging to the country’s leading ad agencies slipped in and out. The war room was managed by Ahmed Patel while Jairam Ramesh presented himself as someone who was overall in-charge of the war-room. Other notables registering their daily presence were Digvijay Singh, Ahmed Patel, Oscar Fernandes, Ambika Soni, Vishwajeet Prithvijeet Singh, Prithviraj Chavan and Janardhan Dwivedi. Unlike 24, Akbar Road, entry to 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road was severely restricted, and confidentiality and coordination were at a premium. This was evident when senior leader and the then Union human resource development Minister, Arjun Singh, expressed a desire to be part of it. Arjun never received an invitation. Privately, some party leaders had mocked him, saying Arjun would do better to manage his own war room at home, in a reference to his daughter, Beena, who had turned ‘rebel’ candidate and was contested as an independent from the Sidhi Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh ensuring defeat of the official Congress nominee. At 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road, the Congress spin doctors’ prime task was to market the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi duo. In marketing terms, it was not an easy task because the anti-incumbency factor tends to work at different levels. People had seen what the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could do and had not done. They had learnt a lot about them since 2004. Therefore, there was a need to package the UPA’s quest for a second term in a certain fashion. Unlike in 2004, the Congress was not hampered by a shoestring budget. It hired the best experts from marketing, brand line, advertising and media. The Congress spin doctors were unanimous in their opinion that in the complex political situation that existed in early 2009, their objective should be to create a niche for the party and develop a sense of identity between the Congress leadership — Sonia-Manmohan-Rahul — and the masses. In this context, their task was to send out a message to the electorate that the Congress had continuity with change. The second practical problem was ‘selling’ the party, rather than the candidates in the fray. Then, there was a need to differentiate between the Congress and the other political parties. When the BJP launched its ‘Bhay Ho (Fear)’ reply to the Congress’ ‘Jai Ho’ campaign, Atul Hegde of Ignitee Digital Solutions was called at 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road. Within two days of the “Jai Ho” launch, the film received more than thirty thousand views and became the most discussed video on Internet social sites. It was not that 15, GRG war room was not mocked. Many old-timers and puritans at 24, Akbar Road used to scoff at the party’s spin doctors and their ability to deliver. A Cabinet colleague of Manmohan Singh had once narrated a story to illustrate his line of argument. He said that many months ago in Canada, someone offered clean, bottled mountain air by mail order. Thousands responded with money and received empty bottles. “The political campaigns are similarly packaged,” he had said with a chuckle. The writer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including ‘24 Akbar Road’ and ‘Sonia: A Biography’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .