The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library was officially renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society today, inviting sharp criticism from the Congress. The Teen Murti Bhavan, which was previously home to the NMML, had served as the official residence of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Congress on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a single point agenda of "denying", "distorting", "defaming" and "destroying" the Nehruvian legacy, after the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library was officially renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society today.
In mid-June, in a special meeting of the NMML Society, it was resolved to change its name to PMML Society. The opposition 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.
"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," Congress general secretary Jairam 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 said in a tweet.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that the legacy of Nehru cannot be erased despite the name change drive. "You may change the name of the building but you can't change the name of Pandit Nehru that is mentioned in history. You can't change the history created by Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Savarkar ji...You can't create a history like them so you are changing names."
On the name change drive, A Surya Prakash, Vice-Chairman, Executive Council, Prime Ministers Museum and Library said that the question arose after PM Modi wanted a 'museum of PMs'. "The PM gave the responsibility to what was earlier known as Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML). The reason is that we have a 28-acre estate there...That is the ideal location because we already have Nehru Museum there and the idea was to showcase the work of all PMs of India," he said on why the NMML was chosen as the location.
The Teen Murti Bhavan, which was previously home to the NMML, had served as the official residence of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.