BJP constantly overshadowing Cong's contributions to freedom struggle

New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) Freedom fighters and great leaders have a significant place in Indian politics and this is the reason why the political parties since Independence try to woo the voters by claiming stake to their legacy. However, in this race, the BJP seems to have left the Congress and the other parties far behind.

From Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country's first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister to the architect of the Constitution and the inspiration of Dalits, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and revolutionary Bhagat Singh, the BJP has made its claim stronger through its works, policies, and by building monuments and museums.

The recent inauguration of the Prime Ministers' Museum is being described as the strongest and most effective step in this regard so far, which has brought all the political parties, on the back foot, especially the Congress, which has been a part of the government at one time or another.

Prime Ministers' Museum displays all the Prime Ministers that the country has seen since Independence - from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi.

Out of the 14 former Prime Ministers whose contributions in nation building are prominently displayed in this museum, seven have been from the Congress which comprises three from the Nehru-Gandhi family -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi -- and four who took over the reins of the country with the support of the Congress.

Family members of late Lal Bahadur Shastri, Chandrashekhar, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and H.D. Deve Gowda, besides participated in the inauguration of this museum by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on April 14.

However, Congress's President Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, had not attended the programme.

Talking to IANS, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the museum has been built by the Modi government to take the contribution of all the former Prime Ministers to the people without any discrimination. He emphasised that the party which has given maximum number of Prime Ministers to the country and the family from which maximum number of people have become the Prime Minister of the country, such family (Gandhi family) should have attended the programme.

Sunil Shastri, son of Lal Bahadur Shastri, told IANS said that a huge heritage of the country has been preserved in this museum. Expressing gratitude to the Modi government for this, he said that through this people will not only know about the former Prime Ministers of the country, but also people will get to know under what circumstances the country has been progressing year after year.

Narasimha Rao's grandson N.V. Subhash also expressed his gratitude towards the Modi government, saying that his grandfather devoted his entire life to the Congress, and considered Congress "his mother". In 1991, he handled both the party and the government during the crisis. But the Congress, especially the Gandhi family, never gave him the respect he deserved, he told IANS, adding that he and his family will always be sad and sorry for this.

The family members of all the 14 former Prime Ministers of the country, including the Gandhi family, were invited to attend the inauguration programme. However, the absence of the Gandhi family in the event gave another issue to the BJP that has been alleging for the last several decades that the Congress has not given any credit to any former Prime Minister apart from those who were from the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The BJP has accused the Congress of discriminating against other Prime Ministers and now the relatives of many former leaders are also openly making such allegations, it has made the BJP's task to spread this easier.