The Congress, the oldest and one of the richest political parties of the country, seems to have failed to to pay the rent of its Allahabad office for several years now.
The grand old party has been served notice by the owner of the building to vacate the property as Congress has accumulated rent amounting to Rs 50,000. That brings us to the question: How much is the monthly rent? The answer is, Rs 35 only.
Located in Chowk locality in the old part of the city, the 3,000 square feet building has served as the party’s office for over 70 years. The office has stood witness to numerous meetings held by the top tier of the party’s leadership, including Kamla Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
According to reports, the owner, Raj Kumar Saraswat, has told the Congress to either pay up or get out by July end.
While many wondered why the Congress, whose expenditure runs into crores, failed to pay this humble amount, office-bearers have written to Raj Babbar, the chief of the party in Uttar Pradesh, drawing his attention.
UPCC spokesperson Kishore Varshney told The Hindustan Times that office bearers and activists will pool in the money to pay the rent.
The ‘rich’ and the ‘poor’
A study by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) had recently revealed that the income of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rose by 81.18 per cent between two corresponding financial years while that of the Congress went down by 14 per cent during the same period.
Read More: BJP income rose 81.18% in FY 2016-17, Congress’ went down
The BJP declared a total income of the Rs 1,034.27 crore during the Financial Year 2016-17, which is Rs 463.41 crore more than the income during FY 2015-16. The Congress, on the other hand, earned an income of Rs 225.36 crore in FY 2016-17. Its income in FY 2015-16 was Rs 261.56 crore.
But while the BJP spent Rs 710.057 crore in FY 2016-17, the Congress spent Rs 321.66 crore – Rs 96.30 crore more than its income.