The debate over late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s historical letters has reignited political tensions, with leaders from the Congress and BJP trading barbs. The controversy emerged after the Prime Minister's Museum and Library (PMML) urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to return letters removed in 2008 at Sonia Gandhi’s behest.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit added his voice to the row, terming the BJP's stand on the controversy as ridiculous. He asked whether those raising the issue had even read the late PM's works that are already published and are in the public domain.
Dikshit said, "All of Pandit Nehru's writings and letters that matter are out in the public domain. Have they ever bothered to read or learn from them? This is nothing but an attempt to politicise history.
Congress MP Tanuj Punia rubbished the claims of BJP, saying, "The public letters of Nehru ji are already available in the public domain and quoted widely, even in Parliament. There's no secrecy around them."
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla condemned the timing, saying, "Why raise an issue from 2008 in 2024? It's irrelevant and illogical.
BJP leader Sambit Patra countered with allegations of concealment, claiming that the Congress wants to hide sensitive exchanges, including correspondence between Pandit Nehru, Albert Einstein, Jayaprakash Narayan and Edwina Mountbatten.
What was it that Nehru wrote to Mountbatten? With which Jayaprakash Narayans did he converse, if at all? And where did a historian, Mr. Kadri, dig out for writing a letter to Rahul Gandhi, beseeching him to approach his mother and then the UPA Chairperson for returning the letters? added.
BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya too took to social media claiming that 51 cartons of Pandit Nehru's letters were taken away from the Nehru Museum and Library, now Prime Minister's Museum and Library.
The Congress is being accused by BJP for censorship, and personal letters between the late PM and global figures have become a focal point.
The Congress maintains most documents to be public, though private family correspondence was the only kind withheld.
Read also| Constitution Debate in LS: BJP Cites 1975 Emergency to Counter Rahul Gandhi's Attack
