'Govt out to destroy Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy'

Senior Congress leader Karan Singh on Wednesday alleged that the BJP government is out to destroy Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy by removing Congressmen as members of the NMML society.

The society was reconstituted by the government on Tuesday.

"The Centre's action clearly shows that they are clearly determined to destroy the legacy of (India's first prime minister) Jawaharlal Nehru. I react in shock over the development," Singh told reporters.

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh and he have been removed as members of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) Society.

Commenting on the developments, Kharge said the Centre is taking everything politically and it was unfortunate that Congress members were removed as members of the NMML.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the president of the society and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh its vice president. The reconstitution holds significance as the government is planning a major revamp of the museum.

The government first made an attempt to make the museum for all previous prime ministers and "we had opposed it then", Singh said.

"We opposed it saying this is not correct. This is a memorial and library for Jawaharlal Nehru and do not fiddle with the issue. Build another museum for other PMs but leave this," he said.

"It is strange that those people who were even reluctant to even name Nehru are managing the museum and those who worked closely with the former prime minister have been sidelined," Singh said.

He said he has been one of the founders of the museum and "we decided that this should be converted into a museum and library not only for Jawaharlal Nehru but for modern Indian history and the freedom movement."

"The NMML has emerged as an internationally renowned and accepted centre for research into the Indian freedom movement and on Jawaharlal Nehru. We have published so many books on freedom fighters," Singh said.

The government reconstituted the NMML society, inducting television journalist Rajat Sharma and adman Prasoon Joshi among others as members.