New Delhi: In a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his frequent criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress has said that the digital archive dedicated to the country’s first prime minister would serve as a “kavach” (shield) against attempts to “defame and denigrate” him.
Marking one year since the digital archive (nehruarchive.in) went live, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, “The Distorians led by the supposed MA in Entire Political Science himself will do what they have been doing to defame and denigrate Nehru.
“But this digital archive will be a kavach that will preserve, protect, promote and propagate his monumental legacy.”
The reference to a “supposed MA in Entire Political Science” was an apparent jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the political controversy surrounding his educational qualifications.
Ramesh said the archive would help preserve Nehru’s legacy by making historical material accessible to the public.
The archive, he said, had recorded more than one million unique visitors and over four million page views in its first year. It hosts 100 volumes of Nehru’s Selected Works, covering 1903 to 1964, comprising around 77,000 pages, more than 34,000 text documents and over 3,000 images.
“…This is only the beginning. nehruarchive@2 will go beyond the Selected Works and be even richer and will contain vastly expanded Nehru-related material from many more sources in India and abroad including letters, photos, documents, books, films, audio recordings and cartoon sketches that appeared during his lifetime,” Ramesh wrote on X.
Today is nehruarchive.in@1.
Over the past year, this digital repository of the 100 volumes of the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru covering the period 1903-1964 has had well over 1 million unique visitors and has had 4 million+ page views. The volumes run into around 77,000… pic.twitter.com/UuLWmgpPZW
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 14, 2026
The post came as the Congress marked Jawaharlal Nehru’s 137th birth anniversary Saturday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi paid floral tributes to India’s first prime minister at Nehru’s memorial, Shanti Van, in Delhi. They were joined by other party leaders and released tricolour-themed balloons.
Kharge and Sonia Gandhi later paid floral tributes at Nehru’s portrait in the central hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament building. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and other leaders were also present.
Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, remembered Nehru as the “Jewel of Hind”.
“Freedom was not his destination, but a milestone in the nation’s new journey. Swaraj was not about power, but about every citizen’s participation and responsibility for the country’s future,” he wrote on X.
“India was a quest, an idea for him—diversity as its strength, democracy as its faith, and equality as its foundation. His dream of a modern, scientific, progressive, and confident India remains our inspiration today. And our efforts to build that India are a true tribute to him,” Rahul added.
हिंद के जवाहर, भारत के प्रथम प्रधानमंत्री पंडित जवाहरलाल नेहरू जी की जयंती पर सादर नमन।
आज़ादी उनकी मंज़िल नहीं, देश के नए सफ़र का मुकाम थी। स्वराज सत्ता नहीं, हर नागरिक की भागीदारी और देश के भविष्य की ज़िम्मेदारी थी।
भारत उनके लिए एक खोज, एक विचार था – विविधता जिसकी शक्ति,… pic.twitter.com/oR6D4aLRxP
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 14, 2026
Kharge called Nehru the “principal architect” of modern India. “He understood that a nation as diverse as ours could only be held together by Democracy; one that embraced different cultures, beliefs, political voices and aspirations,” the Congress president wrote on X.
“As we pay our solemn tributes to him at Shanti Van today, we must reaffirm our resolve to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, our democratic institutions and the values that bind us together. That is Nehru’s enduring legacy. And upholding it is our collective responsibility,” he added.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the principal architect of modern India. He understood that a nation as diverse as ours could only be held together by Democracy; one that embraced different cultures, beliefs, political voices and aspirations.
As we pay our solemn tributes to him at… pic.twitter.com/bkOZzhjznR
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) November 14, 2026
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra described Nehru as “that unique human being—a revolutionary, a visionary and a builder.”
“The fact that he is still attacked by those who seek to destroy our constitution and our democracy more than sixty years after his death is a testament to his steadfast commitment to India,” she wrote on X.
Adding, “May his love for our country guide us for always.”
Jawaharlal Nehru was that unique human being – a revolutionary, a visionary and a builder.
The fact that he is still attacked by those who seek to destroy our constitution and our democracy more than sixty years after his death is a testament to his steadfast commitment to… pic.twitter.com/jvfdNxnG9r
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) November 14, 2026
Each year, 14 November is also observed as Children’s Day. Nehru, popularly known as “Chacha Nehru” for his affection for children, was born on this day in 1889, in Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad).
Referring to the digital archive dedicated to India’s first prime minister, Jairam Ramesh said it was smartphone-friendly and allowed users to search, download material free of cost and translate it. Its users included students, scholars, historians, journalists, admirers and critics of Nehru, he said.
Ramesh added that the next phase will expand beyond the Selected Works to include letters, photographs, documents, books, films, audio recordings and cartoons from Nehru’s lifetime, drawing on sources in India and abroad.
The Congress leader also said that the archive is an initiative of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, whose Deed of Declaration of Trust was signed on 21 December, 1964 by then Vice President Dr Zakir Husain and Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, along with 30 other extremely distinguished men and women.
“Their names along with their signatures for the Deed make for fascinating reading. What a glittering galaxy that was. The Appeal by the-then President of India Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was compelling and moving,” Ramesh wrote on X.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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