Nehru Memorial renamed PM Museum, Oppn, BJP cross swords

While the Congress and other opposition parties slammed the move, calling it “petty” politics and an effort to dilute Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy — Teen Murti was Nehru’s official residence for more than two decades and was later turned into a memorial dedicated to him — Union ministers and the BJP dismissed the allegation. Defending the move, the BJP said it gives “respect” to all Prime Ministers till date.

A Surya Prakash, vice-chairman of PMML’s executive council, tweeted on Tuesday that the change came into effect from August 14, and is “in tune with the democratisation and diversification of the remit of the society”. On Wednesday, he said that once the resolution was passed in the executive council meeting on June 15, it was just a matter of time and procedure before it became official.

“Under law, if we want to change the name of a Society, the general body has to meet twice after the gap of a month,” Prakash said. “So it met again on July 18 (after June 15) and reiterated the change of name. Then, it went to the Registrar of Societies. This is the process…”

Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “possessing a huge bundle of fears, complexes and insecurities”, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “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.”

However, Ramesh added, despite the relentless assault, Nehru’s legacy will live on and will continue to inspire generations to come.

Hitting back, former Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “There is a basic difference between the thinking of the Congress and PM Narendra Modi. They [Congress] think [of] only Nehru-ji and family matters. Modi-ji gave a respectful position to all Indian PMs at the museum.”

Many other opposition parties also targeted the NDA government over the decision. RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha remarked that the Centre cannot erase the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru, as he is “in the soil of the country”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said., “They (NDA) can’t create history like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and (Vinayak Damodar) Savarkar. So they are changing names.”

Delhi Health Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “It is not in our culture to disrespect someone after his death. Jawaharlal Nehru had made a great contribution. This shows petty politics.”

Union minister Ajay Bhatt, however, said, “There will be no decrease in his (Nehru’s) respect. After changing the name from NMML to PMML, every former PM will get equal respect.”

Union minister Arjun Munda said India belongs to everyone. “The country is not through a person but through a system and institution. This is a democracy…. The PM is not a person but an institution, so the Museum has been dedicated to all PMs who served this nation,” he said.

The PMML has Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman, and Union ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, G Kishan Reddy, and Anurag Thakur among its 29 members.

In a special meeting on June 15, presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, vice-president of the Society, it was decided to drop Nehru’s name, as the place has since been added with a mega-museum dedicated to all Indian Prime Ministers.

– With inputs from PTI