The renaming of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) has triggered a new wave of blame game between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress.
Congress has termed it as distortion of the legacy of the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru but the ruling dispensation at the Centre called it dynasty charge.
The NMML, located on Teen Murti Marg in central Delhi, has been officially renamed as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society. The decision to rename it was taken in June.
Known as Flagstaff House during the British Raj, this building was earlier used as the residence of the Commander-in-chief of British forces. After Independence, it became the official residence of Prime Minister Nehru. Following his death, it was converted to a library and museum.
Taking to Twitter this morning, Congress leader 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 said Prime Minister Modi was insecure about Jawaharlal Nehru. “He has had a single point agenda of denying, distorting, defaming and destroying Nehru and the Nehruvian legacy. He has erased N and put P instead. That P is really for pettiness and peeve.”
“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,” he added.
The Congress leader said Nehru’s “legacy will live on for the world to see and he will continue to inspire generations to come”.
Ramesh’s remarks were backed by leaders of the Congress and other Opposition parties united against the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the general election next year.
In a sharp response, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a video message that for Ramesh, “P means only Parivar (family) and not people” – a jab at the Gandhi family.
