For Sonia's eyes only: Nehru letters to Edwina

BJP wants nation to have access to 51 cartons that Sonia emissary carted away from Nehru Library to 10 Janpath

- Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

The air in the BJP headquarters was thick with political heat on Monday as party spokesperson Sambit Patra presented his most recent demand – the return of 51 cartons of historical letters, which, according to the Bharatiya Janata Party, were taken by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi from the Prime Minister Memorial Museum and Library (PMML) back in 2008. These letters, written by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, have long been a subject of intrigue and speculation.

With their focus now on the relationship between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, the wife of the last British Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the BJP claims that the letters should never have been removed from public glare.

"These letters are national records," Patra declared in his press conference, his voice echoing across the room. "The nation has a right to understand the nature of the exchanges contained within them. What did Nehru discuss with Lady Mountbatten? What could those conversations tell us about the partition and India's independence?" The claim was bold, and the political stakes, higher still.

But the backdrop to this drama, steeped in historical intrigue and complex personal relationships, is nothing short of riveting. The story of these letters, now almost lost to time, begins in 2008 when Sonia Gandhi, through her representative MV Rajan, arranged for the transfer of these 51 cartons from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library to her personal residence.