@Evening: 🏛️ Nehru Memorial Museum & Library Renamed, As Nehru's Name Is Dropped

🆕 Going beyond one family

Over a year after the launch of a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers of India at the Teen Murti Complex comes another major change.

Context: The Nehru Museum Memorial and Library (NMML), named after India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, has been renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society.

• The decision was made during a special meeting of the NMML Society on Thursday.

• The meeting was presided over by the vice president of the society, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

• The society's 29 members include its chairman PM Narendra Modi and several Union Ministers, like Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, G Kishan Reddy, and Anurag Thakur.

• NMML is housed within the Teen Murti Complex.

Teen Murti House. It was originally built in 1929-30 as part of Edwin Lutyens’ imperial capital.

• It was the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief in India.

• After independence, it became the official residence of Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1948.

• Nehru lived there until his death on 27 May 1964.

• Subsequently, it was decided that the complex would be dedicated to Nehru and would house a museum and library.

• On 14 November 1964, President S Radhakrishnan dedicated the Teen Murti House to the nation on the occasion of Nehru's 75th birth anniversary and inaugurated the Nehru Memorial Museum.

• The NMML Society was established two years later to manage the museum and has existed ever since.

New museum takes centre stage. In 2016, PM Modi proposed establishing a new museum dedicated to all the prime ministers of India on the Teen Murti premises.

• Despite opposition from the Congress, the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was built on campus and, on 21 April 2022, inaugurated by PM Modi.

• In response, former PM Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to PM Modi expressing his concerns about an "agenda" to “change the nature and character” of the NMML and the Teen Murti Complex.

• Now, after the change of name, the Congress is fuming once again.

• Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh allege that PM Modi and the BJP are trying to belittle Nehru's contribution.

Rationale for name change. The executive council felt that the museum's name should reflect the institution's current form and activities, a statement said.

• This is in reference to the sangrahalaya, which depicts the collective journey of democracy in Independent India and highlights each Indian prime minister's contribution to nation-building.

• Describing the prime minister as an institution, Rajnath Singh emphasised that all the colours of a rainbow should be proportionately represented in order to make it beautiful.

• This recognition of all prime ministers is an effort to democratise institutional memory, NMML executive council chairman Nripendra Misra said.

🗣️ "The resolution has given a new name, respect to all our previous prime ministers and is democratic in content." — a Ministry of Culture statement