Name change of Nehru memorial triggers political war of words

New Delhi (TIP)- The government has renamed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, drawing strong condemnation on Friday, June 16, from the Congress that termed the dropping of the name of India‘s first PM it as “petty act” and asserted that legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings.
The BJP also slammed the Congress, saying they are suffering from Modiabind –blind opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP chief JP 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. The Congress termed it an act of “vengeance” and asserted that legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings.
Reacting to the development, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said this shows the “low mentality and dictatorial attitude” of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as they can never reduce the huge contribution of Nehru, “the architect of modern India”.
“Those who do not have any history are erasing the history of others. The ill-fated attempt to change the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cannot belittle the personality of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India and fearless guardian of democracy,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi. “This only shows the low mentality and dictatorial attitude of BJP-RSS. The petty thinking of the (Narendra) Modi government cannot reduce the huge contribution of ‘Hind ke Jawahar’ towards India,” he said.
Source: PTI

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