THE Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society housed in Teen Murti Bhawan premises here has been renamed by the Government as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, prompting sharp reactions from the Congress which termed it as a “petty act”. The move to rename the Society comes nearly a year after the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was inaugurated on the premises of the Teen Murti Bhawan, which served as the official residence of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In a special meeting of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society (NMML), it was resolved to change its name, the Culture Ministry said on Friday.

 

The meeting was presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is the vice president of the Society, it said.

In his address at the meeting, Singh “welcomed the proposal for change in 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 faced by them, the Ministry said. Describing Prime Ministers 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,” it said.

 

The Congress termed it as an act of “vengeance”, asserting 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 J P Nadda also said that the Congress’ inability to accept that there are leaders beyond “one dynasty” is a classic example of “political indigestion”.