Every govt, every PM has helped take India to current heights: Narendra Modi

Members of the Gandhi family, who were invited to the event, did not attend. Those present on the occasion included Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s daughter Namita Bhattacharya, Lal Bahadur Shastri’s son Anil Shastri and grandson Adarsh Shastri, P V Narasimha Rao’s grandson N V Subhash, and family members of Charan Singh and Morarji Desai. Also present were Rajya Sabha vice-chairman Harivansh, ministers G Kishan Reddy, Meenakshi Lekhi, Arjun Meghwal and V Muraleedharan.

“Barring one or two exceptions, we have a glorious tradition of strengthening democracy in a democratic way. So it’s our responsibility also to strengthen democracy through our efforts,” Modi said. Calling India “loktantra ki janani” (the mother of democracy), he said, “The great feature of India’s democracy is that it has been continuously changing with the passage of time. In every era, in every generation, there has been an effort to make it more empowered.”

“Desh aaj jis unchayi par hai, wahan tak usse pahunchaane mein swatantra Bharat ke baad bani pratyek sarkar ka yogdaan hai. Maine Lal Qila se bhi yeh baat kayi baar dohraayi hai. Aaj yeh sangrahalaya bhi pratyek sarkar ki sanjha virasat ka jeevant pratibimb ban gaya hai (Every government formed after Independence has contributed in taking India to the heights where it is today. I have said this from the Red Fort several times. This museum is a living reflection of the shared heritage of each government),” he said.

Inaugurating the museum on Babasaheb B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, the Prime Minister paid rich tribute. “The Constitution, of which Babasaheb was the main architect, gave us the basis of the Parliamentary system. The main responsibility of this Parliamentary system is upon the office of the Prime Minister. It is my good fortune that today I have got the opportunity to dedicate the Prime Minister’s Museum to the nation,” he said.

He mentioned that the NDA government had announced November 26 as Constitution Day, and called the museum “the next step in the effort to honour the Constitution of India”.

He greeted families of the former Prime Ministers: “Desh ke har pradhan mantri ne samvidhaan sammat loktantra ke lakshyon ki poorti mein bharsak yogdaan diya hai (Every Prime Minister of the country has contributed immensely towards achieving the goals of constitutional democracy).”

“To remember them is to know the journey of independent India. People coming here will be familiar with the contribution of the former Prime Ministers of the country, their background, their struggles and creations,” he said.

Speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of the event, Adarsh Shastri called the museum an “excellent initiative by the PM”. He said, “It is important for people to understand the contribution of all PMs, not just one ideology or one family. Such museums exist in many countries but we never had one. This will fill that gap.”

Shastri’s family has donated his charkha (which came as a wedding gift), his badminton racquet and some important letters. Morarji Desai’s Bhagavad Gita, Gandhi topi, pen and rudraksh mala find place in the gallery dedicated to him, while there are some handwritten diaries by Chandra Shekhar on display, besides Vajpayee’s Bharat Ratna medal, spectacles, wrist watch and some letters.

N V Subhash, who is also the Telangana BJP spokesperson, said, “There is space for all PMs here — whether they were at the top post for six months or six years. It’s as if my grandfather has got his due 18 years after his death. For all these years, it felt as if this place belonged to the Gandhi family; now, it belongs to all PMs.”

Chandra Shekhar’s son Neeraj Shekhar, BJP member of Rajya Sabha, in a Twitter post, said “wherever he is, my father would be blessing” Prime Minister Modi and “so would all other Prime Ministers”. “Let this museum begin a new culture of statesmanship,” he said.

The 10491 sq-metre museum, built at a cost of Rs 306 crore, has 43 galleries, with a capacity to hold 4,000 visitors at a time. The highlight is Anubhuti, an experiential gallery where visitors can walk with any Prime Minister’s hologram, take pictures and their signatures. The space is a mix of physical and digital displays, with a heavy reliance on technology — virtual reality, augmented reality, holograms and audio-visual elements.

The erstwhile Nehru Museum building has been seamlessly integrated with the new museum building. The Nehru Museum is now designated as Block I, and has a completely updated, technologically advanced display on the life and contribution of India’s first Prime Minister. A number of gifts received by Nehru from all over the world, but not exhibited so far, have been put on display in the renovated Block I.

While the lives and times of 14 former PMs have been showcased, the current PM is not part of the narrative. Nripendra Misra, chairperson of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which has executed the project, told The Indian Express that the museum is a work-in-progress and that in the coming months, glimpses from Modi’s first term (2014-19) will be added.