Cong calls it ‘petty act’, BJP hits back with ‘modiabind’ barb
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The government of India has renamed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society.
Government move drew strong condemnation from the Congress that termed the dropping of the name of India’s first PM it as “petty act” and asserted that legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings.
The Congress termed it an act of “vengeance” and asserted that legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings.
Reacting to the development, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said this shows the “low mentality and dictatorial attitude” of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as they can never reduce the huge contribution of Nehru, “the architect of modern India”.
“Those who do not have any history are erasing the history of others. The ill-fated attempt to change the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cannot belittle the personality of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India and fearless guardian of democracy,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.
“This only shows the low mentality and dictatorial attitude of BJP-RSS. The petty thinking of the (Narendra) Modi government cannot reduce the huge contribution of ‘Hind ke Jawahar’ towards India,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also slammed the Congress, saying they are suffering from “Modiabind” –blind opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP chief J P Nadda also said the Congress’ inability to accept that there are leaders beyond “one dynasty” is a classic example of “political indigestion”.
Nadda on Friday slammed Congress over its remarks on the renaming of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library as Prime Minister’s Museum and Library Society and said that its inability to accept that there are leaders beyond “one dynasty” is a classic example of “political indigestion”.
Slamming the Centre, senior leader and Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “Pettiness & Vengeance, thy name is Modi. For over 59 years Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) has been a global intellectual lamdmark and treasure house of books & archives.
The move to rename the Society comes nearly a year after the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ was inaugurated on the premises of the iconic Teen Murti Bhavan, which served as the official residence of India’s first prime minister
In a special meeting, presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who is the vice president of the Society, it was decided to change its name, the Culture Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
In his address at the meeting, Singh “welcomed the proposal for the change in the name”, since in its new form the institution exhibits the contributions of all prime ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi and their responses to various challenges, the statement said.
Nehru lived in the Teen Murti Bhavan for more than 16 years until his death on May 27, 1964, and soon after his demise, the house was converted into a memorial to perpetuate his legacy. The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society, an autonomous body, was set up on up on April 1, 1966, to run the memorial housing a museum and a rich library.
Chairman of the NMML Executive Council Nripendra Misra explained the need for a change in name by emphasizing that the Prime Ministers’ Museum expresses the nation’s deep commitment to democracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mooted the idea of setting up of a museum dedicated to all the Prime Ministers of India on Teen Murti Premises, New Delhi in 2016. The Executive Council of NMML had approved the construction of the Museum in the Teen Murti Estate. The project was completed and the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was opened to the public in April 2022.