The dismal performance of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Lok Sabha elections has not just cost it the national party status but also one of its longest held premises in the Capital — 4 Ashoka Road.
On June 26, the CPI(M) had to shift out of the bungalow it has held since 1952 as the party now has no member in the Lok Sabha with the kind of seniority needed to qualify for that size of property. While the bungalow with a sprawling lawn has for the last several years housed the offices of three of CPI(M)’s mass organisations — the All-India Kisan Sabha, All-India Agricultural Workers Union and the Students Federation of India — it has also served as the party’s national headquarters in the past.
The bungalow was initially allotted to A.K. Gopalan (AKG) on his election to the first Lok Sabha. Since the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) emerged as the second largest party in the House after the Congress, he got the house by virtue of being the Opposition leader.
It was here that 32 members of the National Council of the undivided CPI decided to leave the party that eventually led to the 1964 split and the formation of the CPI(M). After the split, the first meeting of the CPI(M) took place here as AKG was part of the breakaway group.
As 4 Ashoka Road remained the parliamentary office of the party through the years, it became the natural choice for becoming the headquarters when the CPI(M) decided to shift its central office from West Bengal to the national capital in 1978 after the Jalandhar Party Congress.
