Congress's election 'war room' gets new address after 18 years
The Congress Party has shifted its election preparation hub, also known as the "war room," to a new location in Lutyens' Delhi after 18 years, The Hindustan Times reported. The new facility was set up in a two-story bungalow at C1/10, Subramania Bharti Marg, near Delhi's Khan Market. Previously, it was situated at 15 Gurdwara Rakabganj Road (GRG) bungalow. This marks the first change of location for the war room in almost two decades.
Why does this story matter?
The Congress is currently finalizing the seat-sharing agreement with the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc partners ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. In the last few weeks, the bloc, led by the Congress, has finalized previously stalled deals in more than five states. This move is in line with the goal of the INDIA bloc, which was formed to fight the Bhartiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming general election.
War room will likely be moved again after election
The new war room bungalow is owned by Uttam Kumar Reddy, a minister from Telangana. He received the bungalow when he was a Rajya Sabha member. The former war room was assigned to the party's Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya, who retired in August last year. This prompted the Congress to find a new location for its war room. However, the facility will be moved again after the election when the bungalow is reassigned to a new Rajya Sabha member.
Members, incharge of Congress war room
Former Karnataka Cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sasikanth Senthil, who joined the Congress in 2019, leads the party's war room. "I really cannot say why we changed the address. The decision was taken by the party's top leadership. My job is operations. I can't say anything beyond this," he said. Other members of the war room include engineer-turned-Congress Joint Secretary Gokul Butail, Delhi unit member Naveen Sharma, party worker Varun Santosh, and Captain (retd) Arvind Kumar and Vaibhav Walia.
State-level war rooms in the offing
The new war room offers similar facilities to the old one, such as conference rooms, cabins, and a separate bay for the Congress social media unit. However, the new war room is not as organized as the previous one, a party leader said, per HT. Meanwhile, Congress said it planned to establish state-level war rooms for the elections. On January 4, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a meeting to discuss a detailed roadmap for such facilities in every state.
