NEW DELHI: Congress has moved to make Sonia Gandhi a member of the Rajya Sabha. It is hinted that she may not contest the next Lok Sabha elections due to ill health. Currently, she represents Rae Bareli in U.P. This move is also to avoid losing Sonia's residence, 10 Janpath if her Lok Sabha membership ceases.

Rahul Gandhi, who was evicted from the government residence after being disqualified, now resides there. The offices of both Rahul and Priyanka are also located at 10 Janpath.

The party wants Sonia, who is being considered as the president of the new opposition coalition 'INDIA,' to remain a member of parliament. When she came to Bengaluru to participate in the opposition coalition, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had promised that Sonia would be given one of the three Congress seats in Karnataka in April 2024. However, there has been no response from Sonia.

In the next election, Sonia will be replaced by her daughter Priyanka in Rae Bareli. As a new member, Priyanka will not receive a big bungalow in Janpath.

Currently, Syed Naseer Hussain, Dr L Hanumanthaiah, and G C Chandrasekhar are Congress Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka. Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge's assistant, Nasir Hussain will be retained in this role. A seat may be given to Congress social media chief and spokesperson Supriya Sreenathe. The plan is to have Sonia contest for the third seat.

Power house that holds intimacy

It is a matter of pride for the Congress to retain Janpath Bungalow as its center of power after the AICC headquarters. The bungalow was allotted in 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi was the leader of the opposition. The AICC headquarters is nearby. The Youth Congress office worked here in 1975, and the Press Council office in 1977-89.

There were two tombstones in the bungalow built during the British era. Many people hesitated to stay at 10 Janpath as some ghost stories were also circulating. On hearing this, Rajeev started staying here, saying that if they saw him, all the ghosts would run away.

Abandoning Janpath would lead to a situation similar to when Indira Gandhi, who lost power in 1977 after the Emergency, moved to a private residence in Wellington Crescent. Indira Gandhi along with Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka, Sanjay Gandhi, and Maneka lived in the residence of Indira's friend Muhammad Yunus. There is also a farmhouse outside the city in Mehroli, bought by Indira's husband Feroze.