On Day 2 of Nehru Museum Row, Surprise 'Support' from an Opposer: 'Need to Show Other PMs' Work'

The controversy over renaming of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society continued on Saturday with a surprise ‘support’ from Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction. Lawmaker Sanjay Raut agreed that “contribution of other PMs should be shown”.

The leader, however, added that it could have been done without removing the name of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. “I agree that the contribution of other PMs should be shown. A section can be made where contributions of other PMs can be displayed but there is no need to change the name of the museum,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Congress leader recalled a quote by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi that “chhote mann se koi bada nahi ban payega (no one can grow with a small heart).”

“They think that removing the name of Jawaharlal Nehru from the board will diminish his personality. People of the country consider Nehru ji the architect of modern India…I’d like to remind Modi ji of a statement by Vajpayee ji – chhote mann se koi bada nahi ban payega. You are displaying your petty mindset before the country. You will remove Pandit Nehru’s name from the board but how will you remove him from the hearts of the people?” said Congress leader Gourav Vallabh.

Slamming the Congress for creating ruckus over renaming, BJP MP Sushil Modi said that when he had visited the museum, he realised that the grand old party had not even showcased Jawaharlal Nehru’s contributions properly.

“Congress did not showcase his (Jawaharlal Nehru) contributions properly 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,” Sushil Modi said.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Congress cannot see beyond its ‘Family Ltd Enterprise’. “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?”

The BJP further slammed the Congress by saying that they are suffering from “Modiabind” — blind opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP chief J P Nadda also said the Congress’ inability to accept that there are leaders beyond “one dynasty” is a classic example of “political indigestion”.

The move to rename the Society comes nearly a year after the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’ was inaugurated on the premises of the iconic Teen Murti Bhavan, which served as the official residence of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

In a special meeting, presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who is the vice president of the Society, it was decided to change its name, the Culture Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

In his address at the meeting, Singh “welcomed the proposal for the change in the name”, since in its new form the institution exhibits the contributions of all prime ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi and their responses to various challenges, the statement said.

Describing prime minister as an institution and comparing the journey of various prime ministers to the varied colours of a rainbow, Singh emphasised that “all the colours of a rainbow have to 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, the statement said.

(With inputs from PTI)