Cong doesn't hesitate to insult even its own leaders who served as PM: BJP hits back on Nehru Memorial renaming issue

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday hit back at the Congress over its remarks on the renaming of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, saying the party does not hesitate to insult even its own leaders who served as prime minister of the country.

This came after Congress lashed out at the government over renaming of the museum here as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society, calling it a "petty act" and asserting that legacies don't get erased by renaming buildings.

In response, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress is leveling allegations even though its leaders have not yet visited the museum to see how contributions and achievements of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and those of his successors have been showcased in a much better way with use of technology.

He said the museum showcases the contributions and achievements of all the former prime ministers including Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh of the Congress.

"I am deliberately taking the name of their own prime ministers. I can understand if they have some bitterness with Narasimha Rao. But, I want to know what is their problem with the achievements of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Manmohan Singh whose terms as prime minister have been showcased in an organised manner," Trivedi said.

"In their opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they do not hesitate to even insult their own leaders. They are not able to differentiate between their own leaders and others due to 'Modiabind' of Modi's opposition in their eyes," he charged.

Trivedi reminded the Congress how the Modi government celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of Nehru in 2014 after the NDA came to power at the Centre.

"I am surprised and a bit perturbed also (with the Congress' reaction in the matter)," he said and asked, "How many Congress leaders have gone there to see the Nehru Memorial." He said the memorial of India's first prime minister at Teen Murti Bhavan was not in a very good condition.

"It was gathering dust... The portion of Nehru ji's memorial has been reorganised in a much better way and it showcases his contributions and achievements with the use of advanced technology," the BJP leader added.

Earlier in the day, the culture ministry said that in a special meeting of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society (NMML), it was resolved to change the museum's name to Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society.

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