Congress on Friday criticised the Centre's decision of renaming the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library to Prime Ministers Museum and Society.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in his tweet said that it is “Pettiness and Vengeance”.
“Pettiness & Vengeance, thy name is Modi. For over 59 years Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) has been a global intellectual landmark and treasure house of books & archives. It will henceforth be called Prime Ministers Museum & Society. What won't Mr. Modi do to distort, disparage and destroy the name & legacy of the architect of the Indian nation-state. A small, small man overburdened by his insecurities is the self-styled Vishwaguru,” he tweeted.
Pettiness & Vengeance, thy name is Modi. For over 59 years Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) has been a global intellectual lamdmark and treasure house of books & archives. It will henceforth be called Prime Ministers Museum & Society. What won't Mr. Modi do to distort,…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 16, 2023
On Thursday the decision of renaming the Society was taken at a special meeting presided by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is the vice-president of the Society.
The Society has Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman, and among its 29 members include Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Anurag Thakur.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari said that legacies don't get erased by renaming buildings.
“I wish those who want to erase Jawahar Lal Nehru’s contribution to freedom struggle & building of Modern India would once read Discovery of India & Glimpses of World History to fathom the depth of Nehru. Legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings,” tweeted Tewari.
Teen Murti House was the official residence of India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru since 1948 till his death in 1964. Later, President S. Radhakrishnan dedicated the House to the nation and inaugurated the Nehru Memorial Museum.
In his address at the meeting on Thursday, Rajnath Singh welcomed the proposal for change in name, since in its new form, the institution exhibits the contributions of all PMs, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, and their responses to various challenges faced by them, said a statement from the NMML.
"The executive council subsequently felt that the name of the institution should reflect the present activities, which now also include a sangrahalaya depicting the collective journey in Independent India, highlighting the contribution of each Prime Minister in nation-building," said the statement.
