Nehru Memorial Expanding its Scope to Include All PMs, Says its Director as Cong Expresses Displeasure

New Delhi: Even as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi raising concerns over BJP’s ‘agenda’ to change the ‘nature and character’ of historic Teen Murti complex, the director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library said on Monday that the NMML is expanding its ambit to include all Prime Ministers”.

Shakti Sinha, Nehru Memorial director, told CNN-News18, “It is correct that NMML is expanding its ambit very specifically to focus on Prime Ministers, though even now it is not limited to Nehru. What should be appreciated is that NMML has taken up the first ever upgradation of the Museum since it was set up over 50 years ago. The coverage of Nehru would be made much more comprehensive, thematically and made interactive.”

The Congress vehemently opposes setting up a museum for all former prime ministers in the Teen Murti Bhavan complex, saying it would dilute the legacy of India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

At the NMML’s 43rd annual general meeting, Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured that the move of opening the museum of other PMs is not an attempt to dilute the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, who was in the office for 17 years.

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Karan Singh and Jairam Ramesh, historian Nayanjot Lahiri and economist Nitin Desai took strong objection to the idea of a museum for all former prime ministers of the country to be built at the Teen Murti Bhavan complex, which currently houses the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML). Rs 280 crore has already been sanctioned by the central government for the construction of the museum for all prime ministers.

The plan is to build a museum for all prime ministers in the 25-acre estate (Teen Murti Bhavan complex). This will be separate from the existing structure of the Nehru Memorial.