The Union Government on Wednesday issued a clarification to its statement in Parliament on Friday, saying that no paper relating to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is missing from the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML). The Union Ministry of Culture has stated as it is on record that a large volume of documents was taken away by Sonia Gandhi in 2008, they are not marked as ‘missing’, but they remain in possession of Sonia Gandhi.
The Ministry also reiterated its request to Gandhi to return the documents to the PMML. The ministry issued the clarification after the Congress party used the govt’s statement in parliament to accuse it of lying that Sonia Gandhi had taken away the documents.
The matter started on Friday, when Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat gave the reply to a question from BJP MP Sambit Patra about the papers kept in PMML. The minister said PMML has no policy for an annual audit of its documents. Shekhawat stated, “No, there is no annual audit of documents in the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library.”
The question also asked if certain documents related to Jawaharlal Nehru were found to be missing during inspections. The Minister replied, “No documents related to India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, have been found missing from the museum during the annual inspection of the PMML in the year 2025.”
Posting a copy of the reply, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday claimed that it has ‘finally revealed the truth’, and demanded an apology from the govt. He posted on X, “The truth was finally revealed in the Lok Sabha yesterday. Will there be an apology forthcoming?”
The truth was finally revealed in the Lok Sabha yesterday. Will there be an apology forthcoming? pic.twitter.com/lRNoT4Ns6X
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) December 16, 2025
The Congress leader implied that earlier, the Modi government was lying when it said that Sonia Gandhi took back all of the private family letters and notes of Jawahar Lal Nehru in 51 boxes. Back in September, Rizwan Kadri, a member of the PMML Society, had written to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, asking to share physical or digital access to those private papers of Nehru that she holds. Kadri said that the records show that historical records related to Nehru, including his letters to Lady Mountbatten, were removed from the museum on Sonia Gandhi’s instructions in 2008.
At that time, Sonia Gandhi headed the National Advisory Council, the ‘Super Cabinet’ that ruled over the Dr. Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.
Using the ministry’s reply, Jairam Ramesh tried to claim that no document was taken away by Sonia Gandhi. Responding to his allegations, the Union Ministry of Culture has clarified that 51 cartons containing private letters and other documents related to Nehru was taken away by Sonia Gandhi in 2008. And as this is a known fact, and the location of the documents is known, they are not marked as ‘missing’.
On JN papers:
— Ministry of Culture (@MinOfCultureGoI) December 17, 2025
Vide letter dated 29.04.2008 Shri M V Rajan, representative of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, requested that Smt. Gandhi wishes to take back all of the private family letters and notes of former PM Jawahar Lal Nehru. (1/4) @gssjodhpur
The ministry said that on 29 April 2008, Sonia Gandhi’s assistant M V Rajan wrote a letter stating that Sonia Gandhi wants to take back all of the private family letters and notes of Nehru. Accordingly, 51 cartons containing Nehru Papers were sent to Sonia Gandhi in 2008. It added that the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library has been in continuous correspondence with the office of Sonia Gandhi since then for return of these papers. The Museum wrote two letters to her this year itself, in January and July.
“Therefore, Nehru Papers are not “missing” from PMML as their whereabouts are known,” the ministry stated in its clarification. They further added, “These documents, relating to the first Prime Minister of India, form part of the nation’s documentary heritage and not a private property. Their custody with PMML and access to citizens and scholars for research is vital.”
The Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library is located at the Teen Murti House complex in New Delhi. Teen Murti House, a large British-era bungalow, was the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru when he was the prime minister. After his death in 1964, it was converted into a museum and a library titled Nehru Museum and Library. In 2023, it was renamed the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library by the Modi government, dedicating to all the former Prime Ministers of India, not just Nehru. The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was opened to the public in 2022.
