PM Memorial Requests Return Of Nehru’s Personal Letters Held By Sonia Gandhi: 'We Understand...'

The Prime Ministers' Museum and Library (PMML) has officially requested the return of personal letters written by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, which were sent to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in 2008 during the UPA regime.

In a letter dated December 10, PMML member Rizwan Kadri reached out to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, asking him to retrieve the original letters from Sonia Gandhi or to provide photocopies or digital copies. This follows a similar request made to Sonia Gandhi in September.

The letters, which are of significant historical value, were initially entrusted to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (now PMML) by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial in 1971. However, they were reportedly packed into 51 boxes and sent to Sonia Gandhi in 2008.

The collection includes correspondence between Nehru and notable figures such as Edwina Mountbatten, Albert Einstein, Jayaprakash Narayan, Padmaja Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali, Babu Jagjivan Ram, and Govind Ballabh Pant, among others.

In his letter to the Gandhi family member, Kadri stated that Nehru's private papers were entrusted to the PMML by his daughter and former PM Indira Gandhi in 1971 "for safekeeping rather than as an outright gift". He also referenced the minutes of a 2008 meeting which indicated that Sonia Gandhi had taken possession of 51 cartons of the donated papers.

As the letters "provide invaluable insights into a critical period of Indian history", the PMML has requested their return to the institution's archives.

"We understand that these documents may hold personal significance for the 'Nehru family'. However, the PMML believes that making these historical materials... more widely accessible would greatly benefit scholars and researchers," the letter stated.

Following the PMML's request for the letters' return, the BJP quickly took the opportunity to criticise the Gandhi family. In a post on X, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya questioned the reasoning behind withholding the former PM's personal correspondence, asking, "What I find particularly intriguing is: what might Nehru ji have written to Edwina Mountbatten that warranted such censorship? And will Rahul Gandhi act to recover these letters?"