Nehru Is Known For His Work Not Just Name: Rahul Gandhi On Renaming Of Nehru Memorial
Rahul Gandhi's remark comes amid a slugfest between Congress and BJP on Nehru Memorial Museum and Library being officially renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society.
Amid a row over the renaming of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) as Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said "Jawaharlal Nehru is known for the work he did and not just his name". Gandhi made the remark as he embarked on a two-day visit to Ladakh.
The renaming has triggered a war of words between Congress and the ruling BJP, with Jairam Ramesh saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a single point agenda of "denying and defaming" the Nehruvian legacy.
"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," Ramesh said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"He (Modi) has erased N and put P instead. That P is really for pettiness and peeve," the Congress leader further said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the move shows "a certain bitterness" towards our own historical past.
"This pettiness is unfortunate and it shows a certain bitterness towards our own historical past which, I believe, is not worthy of a government that has such a good majority. They should show big-heartedness that you expect from a government with a big majority," Tharoor told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
The move also drew condemnation from AAP, with Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj calling it "very shameful". In an interview to PTI, he said the move reeked of "petty politics".
"It is a shameful thing. It is not in Hindu culture and our culture to disrespect someone after their death. Jawaharlal Nehru was our country's first prime minister. He was a freedom fighter and had made a great contribution. This shows petty politics," Bharadwaj said.
The renaming was officially announced by PMML vice-chairman A Surya Prakash on India's Independence Day. The decision to rename the Nehru Memorial was taken in June in a meeting of the NMML Society. It was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is the vice president of the society.
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