
When Blair House moved into the Blue House, its history was forever changed
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By Anushka Mukherjee and Anuja Kher The Times Of India The Blue House in Mysore is a colourful and historic place that houses the offices of the Congress Party of India and other political parties.
The state-of-the-art building has a sprawling grounds, with a green courtyard and garden.
But this past year, the Blue Houses political parties and other institutions were caught in a dispute over the fate of the former residence of the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, which has been home to Nehru’s residence for almost 50 years.
In September, the then-chairman of the Delhi-based Congress Party, Ravi Shankar Prasad, told a press conference that his party had no intention of selling the property and that he was “looking forward to the completion of the Blue house project.”
This is not the first time the Blue houses political parties have clashed over the future of the property.
The previous owner of the building, the Congress party, also contested the 2002 elections and won.
The two parties have been in the middle of their bitter dispute over who should build the new building, after the previous owner’s decision to sell the property in the past was opposed by several political parties, including the BJP and the ruling Congress party.
On October 8, Prasads office issued a statement saying that it had not been informed of the new owner’s plans and that it was “under no obligation to sell” the Bluehouse.
“I would like to reiterate that I am in no position to offer any financial assistance to the previous owners,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court ordered the building to be sold and said the party should pay for the land, land fees, the cost of constructing the new structure and any other expenses.
“The building should be sold,” a bench headed by Justice A K Sinha wrote in its order.
“It is an old building and we are going to demolish it and replace it with something new.”
According to the court order, the previous ownership of the site has not been notified or notified in advance to the BlueHouse developers, which means the property belongs to the parties.
The developers said they have submitted a proposal for the site, which they claim includes a residential complex, retail space, a gymnasium, a swimming pool and a guest house.
“We have filed a claim with the state government for the project and we have given a detailed description of the land and the land-related expenses,” said Arvind Dutta, a lawyer representing the Bluehouses.
“The developers have submitted all the details and we will file a final claim in two weeks.”
According a report in the Times of Israel, the court is considering whether the property should be deemed as “the former residence” of Nehru.
In other words, the land should not be considered the property of the party which owns it.
The Blue Houses office has been in trouble with the Congress since the party-led government was ousted in the 2002 polls.
The Congress had in March 2011, asked the Delhi government to evict the party’s former leader and former minister, Kiren Rijiju, and his daughter from the property, which is owned by a consortium of private developers.
The Congress, led by the late PM, had contested the polls in Delhi in 2007 and lost to the BJP.
However, the party was in power for a year, until the Congress was expelled from the Delhi assembly in December 2014.
The party then sought the government’s approval to demolisher the property but was not granted permission.
The land was acquired by the Congress for its office building in the 1960s.
In the 1980s, the property was purchased by the Delhi Congress Council, which had an agreement with the then PM to convert the property into a guesthouse for Nehru for a total of Rs 1,800 crore.
The property was converted into a residential and guesthouse in 1999.
The new residence was purchased in 2007 by the city’s civic body, which gave the property to the developer, Murali, for Rs 1.8 crore.
On October 8 , the Delhi Assembly had passed a resolution to remove the BlueHouses party from power and dissolve the assembly.
“There will be no political party in the Blue Huts,” the resolution said.
“Only the residents and the citizens will determine the destiny of this old building.”
The resolution was passed by a vote of 99-1.
In the wake of the ruling, the BJP accused the Congress of trying to “steal” the property through its “sabotage and vendetta.”
“The BlueHuts have not only tried to stifle the Congress in power in Delhi, they have tried to subvert the civic body in Delhi as well,” said the BJP spokesman, Prakash Javadekar.
“They have tried everything to prevent the civic bodies functioning.
The court has ruled that