Manmohan Singh writes stern letter to PM Modi; says don't wipe out Nehru legacy

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written a strongly worded letter to PM Narendra Modi claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been pursuing an "agenda" to "change the nature and character" of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and the Teen Murti complex

Singh's letter comes at a time when the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and the Teen Murti complex have become a matter of contention between the BJP and Congress. The controversy started after the government said that it was planning to set up a museum for all the PMs of India within the Teen Murti complex.

However, this has not gone down well with Congress and the party has alleged that it is an attempt to "obliterate" Nehru's legacy.

In his letter, the former PM asserted that the NMML not only belongs to Congress but to the "entire nation," reported Indian Express. Besides asking PM Modi to ensure that the Teen Murti complex should be left "undisturbed", Singh also spoke highly of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away on August 16.

In his letter, Manmohan Singh said that during Vajpayee's governance, no attempt was made to "change the nature and character of the NMML and the Teen Murti complex in any way. But sadly, that seems to be part of the agenda of the Government of India now."

He has cited several reasons why Nehru's legacy should be left untouched and also quoted Vajpayee's speech in the Parliament after the death of the first Prime Minister.

"As Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji himself said in his moving speech to Parliament when Panditji passed away: 'Such a resident may never grace Teen Murti again. That vibrant personality, that attitude of taking even the opposition along, that refined gentlemanliness, that greatness we may not again see in the near future. In spite of a difference of opinion we have nothing but respect for his great ideals, his integrity, his love for the country and his indomitable courage'.

Let us respect this sentiment and keep Teen Murti as a memorial to our first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru and leave the Teen Murti complex undisturbed as it is. This way we will be respecting both history and heritage.

Jawaharlal Nehru belongs not just to the Congress but to the entire nation. It is in this spirit that I have written to you.

NMML is dedicated to the memory of India's first Prime Minister and prime architect of the Indian nation-state who left behind an indelible imprint on our country and indeed on the world. Nehru's distinctiveness and greatness have been acknowledged even by his political opponents and rivals."

Singh has maintained that as the NMML is a centre of first-rate scholarship and professional excellence and the museum depicts Nehru's role in India's Independence "no amount of revisionism can obliterate that role and his contributions."