Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM is set to construct a new party headquarters for its State unit in Thiruvananthapuram.
A plot measuring 32 cents of land situated opposite to the existing party headquarters, AKG Centre, was bought for a price of Rs. 6.4 crore by the State committee of the CPM for building the new headquarters.
The sketch and design of the new building will be approved soon by the party and construction will be started, sources say.
The land was registered on September 25 in the name of party politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at the Thiruvananthapuram Sub-Registrar Office with the number 2391/2021 (block number: 75 and resurvey number: 28). As many as 31.95 cents of land was bought from a total of 34 persons. The registration proceedings for the new land were held at the AKG Centre.
The land is situated on the side of N S Warrier Road, which connects AKG Centre with Spencer Plaza on MG Road. The flat where party State secretariat members are staying is situated a stone's throw away from the place.
Earlier there was a controversy over the land on which the AKG Centre is situated. It was when A K Antony was the chief minister in 1977 that the State Government gave 34.4 cents of land to the CPM for building AKG Centre, a memorial in the name of the late Communist leader A K Gopalan.
Later, the Kerala University also gave 15 cents land for the building. There were allegations that the CPM had encroached upon the land of the university. The issue even rocked the State Assembly.
But the CPM has been consistent in its view that the AKG Centre plot is legally valid.
