History
The house was the residence of Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri who succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru in 1960s, in fact adjacent to the complex, facing the roundabout is Lal Bhadur Shastri Memorial at 1, Moti Lal Nehru Place., the rest had gone to Congress party. In fact in 1990s, when the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi, supported Chandra Shekhar as PM, Rajiv offered 10 Janpath to L. K. Advani, then Leader of Opposition in the Parliament, so "that the opposition leader can have a permanent address". But Advani "saying he was happy at his Pandara Road residence where he had been living for long."
A place of tightened security, the house became synonymous with the centre of power when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had concentrated all her powers. Media reports of any decision taken by her used to mention "10 Janpath", indirectly referring to first Indira Gandhi, then Rajiv Gandhi and now Sonia Gandhi.
Today the word "10 Janpath", as become synonymous with the Sonia Gandhi, in political parlance, especially when used in conjunction with its power tussle with 7 Race Course Road e.g. 10 Janpath V/s 7 Race Course Road or ‘10, Janpath more important than 7, Race Course’.
Read more about this topic: 10 Janpath
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