A life-size poster of prime minister Narendra Modi, and a quote attributed to him, pasted at the entrance of Delhi’s Gandhi Darshan Museum near Rajghat welcomes the visitors. At the Delhi museum dedicated to MK Gandhi, or Mahatma Gandhi, Modi’s presence is conspicuous.
The prime minister’s quotes adorn plaques erected beside Gandhi’s statues. A picture of him sweeping the floor features in the museum. But Modi’s presence alongside Gandhi isn’t an exception, but rather the new norm across all major sites commemorating Mahatma Gandhi in the national capital.
Newslaundry visited at least five sites dedicated to the ‘Father of the Nation’ — Gandhi Darshan Museum, Gandhi Vatika, Gandhi Smriti Museum, Charkha Museum, and Khadi Gramodyog Bhawan — only to find that at some places, pictures and posters of Modi even outsized that of Gandhi.
At Charkha Museum in Connaught Place, the poster notifying visitors about the museum’s timing and ticket fee also had carried pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and PM Modi with a charkha. A large picture of Modi spinning the charkha made up the selfie booth at Khadi Gramodyog Bhawan.
The Gandhi Smriti Museum’s section on books related to Gandhi features a book on PM Modi’s radio programme Mann Ki Baat.
Pointing to Modi’s ubiquitous presence at these sites, Gandhi Memorial Fund president Ramchandra Rahi told Newslaundry that the places associated with Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi were being “used to spread the propaganda of the RSS and Savarkar”.
Watch.
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