Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya to open on April 14

New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya, a museum dedicated to prime ministers of India, will be inaugurated on April 14 to coincide with B R Ambedkar's birth anniversary, sources in the BJP said Tuesday. Being built at Delhi's Teen Murti Estate, the museum covers the life and times of all the 14 Indian prime ministers so far and will showcase their contributions. The collections and works of Jawaharlal Nehru will stay at the Nehru Memorial Museum.

"The Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya will be inaugurated on April 14, the day of the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar (the chief architect of the Indian constitution. "The date has been specially chosen because the prime ministers have worked following our Constitution," said a source in the saffron party.

Sources also indicate that two former prime ministers who are still alive, Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda, are likely to be specially invited for the occasion. The government had earlier thought of two dates -- December 25, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee which is also observed as Good Governance Day, or January 26 -- for the inauguration of the museum.

The museum which is coming up at a cost of Rs 271 crore was approved in 2018. Being built on a 10,000-square metre piece of land adjacent to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in Teen Murti Bhavan, the museum will have exhibits related to the former prime ministers. Rare photographs, speeches, video clips, newspapers, interviews and original writings of former prime ministers would be put on display.

Culture Ministry officials said appropriate space had been allocated to galleries of 14 former PMs proportionately according to their term in the office. "The museum is a right mix of artefacts and personal belongings of the former prime ministers also collected from their families and digital displays.

The personal collections comprise photographs and letters," said the official. The BJP has often accused the Congress, which has ruled the country for much of the period since Independence, of glorifying the prime ministers from its Nehru-Gandhi family while ignoring others. "This is essentially democratisation of national recognition and articulation of popular gratitude towards all of our former prime ministers," BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said.