NEW DELHI: With the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library officially renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society, the Congress on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a single point agenda of "denying", "distorting", "defaming" and "destroying" the Nehruvian legacy.
The opposition party asserted that despite the "relentless assault", Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy will live on for the world to see and he will continue to inspire generations to come. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "From today, an iconic institution gets a new name. The world renowned Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) becomes PMML—Prime Ministers' Memorial Museum and Library." "Mr. Modi possesses a huge bundle of fears, complexes and insecurities, especially when it comes to our first and longest serving Prime Minister. He has had a single point agenda of denying, distorting, defaming and destroying Nehru and the Nehruvian legacy," he said. "He (Modi) has erased N and put P instead. That P is really for pettiness and peeve," the Congress leader said.
But he can never take away Nehru's gigantic contributions in the freedom movement and his towering achievements in building the democratic, secular, scientific and liberal foundations of the Indian nation-state, "all of which are now under assault by Mr. Modi and his drum beaters", Ramesh said.
Despite the relentless assault, Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy will live on for the world to see and he will continue to inspire generations to come, he said.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore also slammed the government over the name change, saying "hate against Nehruji" is a "well known element of RSS/BJS/BJP/Narendra Modi".
"PM Shastri ji created…VP Radhakrishnanji inaugurated. Narendra Modi closed it. Nehru ji lives in the hearts of INDIA," he said in a tweet. The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library has officially been renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society with effect from August 14, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The vice chairman of the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library's executive council said this in a post on 'X', formerly Twitter.
“Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) is now Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) Society w.e.f August 14, 2023- in tune with the democratisation and diversification of the remit of the society. Happy Independence Day! @narendramodi, @rajnathsingh @MinOfCultureGoI,” the post read. It also had a picture of the Teen Murti House.
In mid-June, in a special meeting of the NMML Society, it was resolved to change its name to PMML Society.
The renaming had prompted sharp criticism from the Congress. The Teen Murti Bhavan had served as the official residence of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.