Rahul has packed his bags after living at 12, Tughlak Lane since 2004

Party insiders told ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri that a likely arrangement could be that Rahul shifts to 10 Janpath and sets up an office elsewhere or he moves to a new house.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has packed his belongings and is set to move to a new address soon after having stayed in his 12, Tughlak Lane bungalow since 2004 when he first entered the Lok Sabha. “Yes, the packing has been done,” a senior AICC functionary said on condition of anonymity.

However, the AICC functionary refused to comment on Rahul’s new address, which could be his mother Sonia Gandhi’s official residence 10, Janpath, allotted in her capacity as a Lok Sabha member from Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. According to party insiders, a likely arrangement could be that Rahul shifts to 10 Janpath and sets up an office elsewhere or he moves to a new house.

Sources said a few suitable houses nearby have been surveyed by senior party leaders but the final decision would be taken between Sonia, Rahul and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who helped Rahul pack his belongings. Priyanka too had been asked to vacate her 35, Lodhi Estate government accommodation in 2020. The said bungalow was allotted to Priyanka in 1997 given that she too was under SPG protection like Sonia and Rahul even though she was not a Member of Parliament.

The 12, Tughlak Lane bungalow had been allotted to Rahul after he entered the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2004 and represented the Amethi parliamentary constituency. Rahul continued to represent Amethi in the Lok Sabha till 2019 when he lost his traditional seat but won from Wayanad in Kerala. Since then, he was allowed to retain the same bungalow given keeping in mind his security detail.

The need to vacate the said bungalow arose after Rahul was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha on March 24, a day after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him to a two-year jail term in a criminal defamation case involving the surname of PM Modi. On March 27, the Parliament Housing Committee served a notice to Rahul asking him to vacate the official accommodation by April 22, 2023. On April 28, Rahul replied in writing to the notice saying he had “happy memories” of the 12, Tughlak Lane bungalow since 2004 but would abide by the rules.

Over the past few days, the top Congress leadership including party president Mallikarjun Kharge has slammed the Centre over the speed with which Rahul’s Lok Sabha membership was taken away and a notice to vacate the official bungalow was served. The Congress has said that Rahul was targeted because he was asking tough questions of the government and pressing for a JPC probe into the alleged link between PM Modi and his businessman friend Gautam Adani.

“The right to disqualify an elected member is only with the President of India and not with the Lok Sabha secretariat or the Secretary-General. Articles 102 and 103 of the Constitution should be referred to for any clarification on this issue,” Congress veteran Anand Sharma said. Kharge has offered to vacate his official bungalow for Rahul and a large number of party workers across the country have also offered their houses to the former party chief in a show of solidarity. The West Bengal unit has launched a “Mera ghar, Rahul ka ghar” campaign in Kolkata.