Row Erupts As Jawaharlal Nehru's Name Dropped From Museum

In a recent special meeting, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society made a significant decision to remove the reference to former PM Jawaharlal Nehru from its name. The society has decided to rename the institution as the Prime Ministers Museum and Library Society. This decision is an outcome of a previous resolution to broaden the museum's scope by including exhibits dedicated to all 13 PMs of India at the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya . While this decision can be seen as a natural progression, it has sparked intense criticism and allegations of vendetta politics from the Congress party.

During the special meeting, the Vice-President of the society and Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh, expressed his support for the proposal to change the institution's name. He welcomed the idea as it now encompasses the contributions of all Prime Ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi , highlighting their respective responses to the diverse challenges they encountered.

Singh characterised the position of the prime minister as an institution and drew a comparison between their individual journeys and the vibrant colours of a rainbow. He stated, “All colours of a rainbow must 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.”

Singh emphasised that the renaming of the NMML Society is a tribute not only to the Prime Ministers from the BJP but also to those from the Congress, such as Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi , PV Narsimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh.

“Prime ministers from different political parties have served the country. There can be ideological differences at the political level, but as PM Modi has said several times, our government believes that all PMs have contributed to the development of India. They all faced different challenges during their tenures and solved them in their own ways,” he stated.

Singh highlighted the significant contributions of different Prime Ministers. He mentioned that Lal Bahadur Shastri coined the iconic slogan ' Jai Jawan Jai Kisan ', which united India's farmers and soldiers. He also acknowledged Indira Gandhi's leadership during the 1971 war, which resulted in the division of Pakistan. Singh further stated that Rajiv Gandhi played a crucial role in strengthening India's IT sector, while PV Narsimha Rao laid the foundation for India's economic revolution through his reform measures.

Singh additionally reminisced about the remarkable achievements of other Prime Ministers. He noted that Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure saw India becoming a nuclear power, while Manmohan Singh played a pivotal role in advancing the country's nuclear energy sector through the nuclear deal.

Singh stated, “Similarly, we can see the country progressing fast under PM Narendra Modi. Today, the pace of India’s economy is growing faster than many big economies in the world.”

The NMML society, in a separate statement, stated, "After the opening of the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in April last year, the executive council felt that the name of the institution should reflect the present activities, which now also include a Sangrahalaya depicting the collective journey of democracy in independent India and highlighting the contribution of each prime minister in nation-building."

In an interview with TOI, A Surya Prakash, the vice chairman of the NMML executive council, expressed, “This is a very big step to reiterate our commitment to democracy and to acknowledge, honour and celebrate the diversity that we have seen in our national political leadership."

“If you saw Nehru Memorial Museum earlier and compare it to now, you will see that from being limited to a bunch of sepia print photographs and Nehru’s bedroom, the old building is now dedicated to showcasing the making of the Indian Constitution and to the things Jawaharlal Nehru did to contribute to building the temples of modern India. From reflecting the poverty of imagination that the ‘family’ suffered from, it now shows how the country is being, and ought to be, run,” remarked the speaker, emphasising the transformation of the museum.