Renaming the Nehru Memorial Museum: The BJP said the grand old party “cannot see beyond one family” while the Congress accused the Modi administration of having a “petty mindset.” In response to the Congress’ comments over the renaming of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, the BJP launched an attack on the party on Saturday, claiming that the venerable institution can only look at one family—the Nehru-Gandhi leadership—and that the great old party is incapable of seeing beyond that. Leaders of the BJP claimed that the Library had previously only highlighted Jawaharlal Nehru’s accomplishments, but that has since changed.
The Congress, meanwhile, persisted in accusing the Modi administration of acting with a “petty mindset” in front of the nation. According to Shehzad Poonawalla, a BJP spokesperson, “Congress can’t see beyond one family. It is a Family Ltd Company, a Family Ltd Enterprise. If respect is given to PMs HD Deve Gowda, Inder Kumar Gujral, Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar, and others who contributed to this nation but did not have the fortune of belonging to one family, if their contribution is celebrated in a museum why is it a dictatorial attitude?…”
Former Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP member Sushil Modi criticised the Congress for not properly showcasing former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s efforts in the museum. “I visited the museum and some of his documents, and chairs were kept but now it is very well displayed. Earlier it was focused only on Jawaharlal Nehru but now the contributions of all PMs have been shown and hence name can’t be only on the name of Jawaharlal Nehru,” he told ANI.
After the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was officially opened on the grounds of the Teen Murti Bhavan, the NMML underwent a renaming process that took about a year. The NMML decided to change its name to Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society at a special meeting, according to the Culture Ministry’s statement on Friday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the society’s vice president, presided over the meeting, according to the statement.
