Nehru Memorial Renamed Prime Minister’s Museum and Library, BJP, Congress Slugfest

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, June 16: A new slugfest has begun between the BJP and the Congress leaders over change in the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, named after India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, which will now be known as the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library Society.

The renaming comes more than a year after the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ (Prime Minister’s Museum) was inaugurated at the historic Teen Murti Complex, where the NMML is housed and had earlier serrved as the official home of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.. The decision to rename was taken at a special meeting of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) Society presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is the Vice-President of the Society, a statement from the Ministry of Culture said on Friday.

The statement said the decision was taken as the NMML Executive Council felt that the name should reflect the present activities of the institution which now also “include a ‘Sangrahalaya’ (Museum) depicting the collective journey of democracy in Independent India and highlighting the contribution of each Prime Minister in nation-building”.

The BJP and Congress leaders got engaged in slugfest with the Congress calling the decision to rename as “dictatorial” and accusing the BJP of trying to reduce the contributions made by the country’s first Prime Minister, while the BJP called the Grand Old Party “dynasts” unable to look beyond a single family.

The statement from the Ministry of Culture said the decision was taken as the NMML Executive Council felt that the name should reflect the present activities of the institution which now also “include a ‘Sangrahalaya’ (Museum) depicting the collective journey of democracy in Independent India and highlighting the contribution of each Prime Minister in nation-building.”

The idea for a museum dedicated to all Prime Ministers had been mooted by prime minister Narendra Modi in 2016. Subsequently, the Executive Council of the NMML had in its 162nd meeting held in November 2016 approved the construction of the Museum of all Prime Ministers in the Teen Murti Estate. The project was completed and the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ was opened to the public on April 21, 2022.

At the meeting of the Society held on Thursday, Chairman of the NMML Executive Council Nripendra Misra explained the need for change in the name by emphasizing that the Prime Ministers’ Museum expresses the nation’s deep commitment to democracy and so the name of the institution should reflect its new form.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed the proposal for change in 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 faced by them.

Singh described Prime Ministers as an institution and compared the journey of various Prime Ministers to the varied colours of a rainbow. All the colours of a rainbow have to be proportionately represented in order to make it beautiful. Thus the resolution has given a new name, respect to all our previous Prime Ministers and is democratic in content, he said according to the statement.

The Teen Murti House was built in 1929-30 as part of Edwin Lutyens’ imperial capital. It was the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief in India. It was in August 1948, that it became the official residence of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru lived there for 16 years until his death in May, 1964. Soon after, on Nehru’s 75th birth anniversary on November 14, then President S Radhakrishnan dedicated the Teen Murti House to the nation and inaugurated the Nehru Memorial Museum. Two years later, the NMML Society was set up to manage the institution, and had remained so since then.

Since April 2022, the Teen Murti campus has been the home to the Pradhanmantri Sanghralaya or the Museum of all Prime Ministers.’ Housed in a new building the Prime Ministers’ museum tells the story of how our Prime Ministers navigated the nation through various challenges and ensured all-round progress of the country. It recognizes all the Prime Ministers, thereby democratizing the institutional memory.

However, the Congress leaders Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party were trying to distort the history. “Those who do not have any history, they have gone to erase 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 tweeted. “This only shows the low mentality and dictatorial attitude of BJP-RSS,” he said, referring to the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Ramesh took a swipe at PM Modi’s projection as the “Vishwaguru”. “… What won’t Modi do to distort, disparage and destroy the name and legacy of the architect of the Indian nation-state? A small, small man overburdened by his insecurities is the self-styled Vishwaguru,” 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. It will henceforth be called Prime Ministers Museum & Society. What won’t Mr. Modi do to distort,…Jairam Ramesh wrote.

The BJP has defended the name change of the museum and told the Congress to stop politicising the matter. BJP chief JP Nadda called the Congress’s attack “a classic example of political indigestion.” “…The inability to accept a simple fact that there are leaders beyond one dynasty who have served and built our nation. PM Sangrahalaya is an effort beyond politics and Congress lacks the vision to realise this,” Nadda tweeted.

Classic example of political indigestion- the inability to accept a simple fact that there are leaders beyond one dynasty who have served and built our nation. PM Sangrahalaya is an effort beyond politics and Congress lacks the vision to realise this.

BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar said the Congress has never looked beyond one dynasty, alluding to the Gandhis. “My father, former PM Chandra Shekhar Ji always worked for national interest. He even worked with Congress but they never looked beyond one dynasty. Now, when PM Narendra Modi honoured Prime Ministers across party lines, Congress is getting agitated. Horrible attitude,” Neeraj Shekhar tweeted.

The BJP alleged the Congress does not hesitate to insult even its own leaders who served as Prime Ministers. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress is making allegations even though its leaders have not yet visited the museum to see how contributions and achievements of Jawaharlal Nehru and his successors have been showcased in a much better way with use of technology.