'Jawaharlal Nehru is known for his work not just his name': Rahul Gandhi on renaming of Nehru memorial

The recent move to rename Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) to Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society has stirred strong reactions from various quarters.

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the proposed renaming of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) to Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserted that "Jawaharlal Nehru is known for the work he did and not just his name." Gandhi made this assertion during his two-day visit to Ladakh, underscoring the deeper significance of Nehru's contributions.

The decision to rename the institution has ignited a heated exchange of words between the Congress party and the ruling BJP. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of harboring a singular agenda to "deny and defame" the Nehruvian legacy, intensifying the ideological clash between the two parties.

"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.

The recent move to rename Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) to Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society has stirred strong reactions from various quarters. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed his view on the matter, characterizing the move as an expression of "a certain bitterness" towards India's historical legacy.

Tharoor elaborated on his perspective, stating, "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," during his interaction with reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

The renaming decision also faced criticism from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj denouncing it as "very shameful." 

The official announcement of the renaming was made by A Surya Prakash, the vice-chairman of Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society, on India's Independence Day. The decision to rename NMML was taken during a meeting of the NMML Society in June, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who also holds the position of vice president in the society.