‘A temple for all Congress people’: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Indira Bhawan’s inauguration

BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister and Congress Pradesh President DK Shivakumar hailed the inauguration of ‘Indira Bhawan,’ party’s new headquarters on Monday and called it as a ‘temple for all Congress people on Monday.

The Deputy Chief Minister had arrived in the national capital earlier today to attend the party headquarter’s inauguration.

“This is a historic day for the Indian National Congress…This office has been dedicated to Indira Gandhi. This Congress office is the temple for all the Congress people,” Shivakumar told ANI.

Today, the party’s flag was ceremoniously hoisted at 9A, Kotla Road, the newly established headquarters of the party. “This is not only a Congress office but a temple for all Congress people in the country who contributed to independence and saved democracy…A unique office has been built. It will be a monumental building for the entire country,” Shivakumar said.

#WATCH | Delhi | On ‘Indira Bhawan’, Congress’ new party headquarters, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says, “This is a historic day for the Indian National Congress…This office has been dedicated to Indira Gandhi. This Congress office is the temple for all the Congress… pic.twitter.com/1lhgDMFSPK

— ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2025

Several key figures including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, along with other distinguished leaders of the party were present. This marks the party’s legacy spanning over 139 years. As per the party’s statement, AICC headquarters is named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, symbolising its continuing mission to uphold the vision of its stalwarts.

Party’s leader Rahul Gandhi said that the inauguration comes at a symbolic time, taking a veiled dig at recent remarks by the RSS chief on India’s independence.

“We are inaugurating our new headquarters at a very significant time. It’s quite symbolic that yesterday, in a speech, the chief of the RSS said that India never achieved true independence in 1947, but rather when the Ram Mandir was built. This building is not an ordinary one. It has emerged from the soil of our country, and it is a result of the hard work and sacrifice of millions of people,” he said.Gandhi also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of “not believing in the tricolour, Constitution.”

“The people who are in power today do not salute the tricolour, do not believe in the national flag, and do not believe in the Constitution. They have a completely different vision of India than we do,” he said. (ANI)