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BJP revives row over Nehru's 51 cartons of letters

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Bharatiya Janata Party is demanding the return of 51 cartons of Jawaharlal Nehru’s letters currently held by the Gandhi family. The archive contains communications between Nehru and notable figures including Edwina Mountbatten, Govind Ballabh Pant, and Jayaprakash Narayan. The Ministry of Culture clarified that the records are not missing since their location is known, but the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library remains in ongoing correspondence with Sonia Gandhi's office to retrieve either the originals or scanned copies.

Key points

  • The ruling party maintains that Jawaharlal Nehru's official correspondence represents nat…: The ruling party maintains that Jawaharlal Nehru's official correspondence represents national heritage rather than private family property.
  • Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat confirmed the documents are not considere…: Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat confirmed the documents are not considered missing because officials know their current whereabouts.
  • Institution officials continue to actively negotiate with Sonia Gandhi's office to make t…: Institution officials continue to actively negotiate with Sonia Gandhi's office to make the historical communications accessible for scholarly research.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Chennai: BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan on Saturday urged Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family to return 51 cartons of correspondence belonging to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library (PMML), asserting that the documents are part of the country's documentary heritage and not anybody's private property.

On the occasion of Nehru's birth anniversary, Kesavan questioned the Congress leadership over the custody of the documents and called on Rahul Gandhi to act on his "Daro Mat" slogan by ensuring their return.

In a post on X, Kesavan said the letters included correspondence between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, along with communications with other prominent individuals. He added that failure to return the documents would strengthen suspicions surrounding their withdrawal from the institution.

"At least on Nehru's birth anniversary today, will Rahul Gandhi and the Congress first family have the courage to stop acting contrary to the national interest and return the 51 cartons containing Nehru's correspondence which rightfully belong to the country? If the Congress family fails to return…

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