Museum name change: Congress says relentless assault can’t destroy Nehru’s legacy
The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library has officially been renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society
Reacting to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library being officially renamed as the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, the Congress on Wednesday (August 16) alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a single point agenda of “denying, distorting, defaming and destroying” the Nehruvian legacy.
The party asserted that despite the “relentless assault”, Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy will live on for the world to see, and he will continue to inspire generations to come. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “From today, an iconic institution gets a new name. The world renowned Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) becomes PMML—Prime Ministers’ Memorial Museum and Library.”
Ramesh went on: “Mr Modi possesses a huge bundle of fears, complexes and insecurities, especially when it comes to our first and longest serving Prime Minister. He has had a single point agenda of denying, distorting, defaming and destroying Nehru and the Nehruvian legacy,” he said.
“He (Modi) has erased N and put P instead. That P is really for pettiness and peeve,” the Congress leader added. But he can never take away Nehru’s gigantic contributions in the freedom movement and his towering achievements in building the democratic, secular, scientific and liberal foundations of the Indian nation-state, “all of which are now under assault by Mr Modi and his drum beaters”, Ramesh said.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore also slammed the government over the name change, saying “hate against Nehruji” is a “well known element of RSS/BJS/BJP/Narendra Modi”.
“PM Shastri ji created…VP Radhakrishnanji inaugurated. Narendra Modi closed it. Nehru ji lives in the hearts of INDIA,” he tweeted.
The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library has officially been renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society with effect from August 14, a senior official said on Tuesday. The vice-chairman of its executive council posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) is now Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) Society w.e.f August 14, 2023- in tune with the democratisation and diversification of the remit of the society. Happy Independence Day!” the post read. It also had a picture of the Teen Murti House.
In mid-June, in a special meeting of the NMML Society, it was resolved to change the name to PMML Society. The renaming had drawn sharp criticism from the Congress. Teen Murti Bhavan had served as the official residence of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
(With agency inputs)
