The central government-run Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has reportedly ordered about 570 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) across the country to install busts of Rajiv Gandhi in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the rural schools scheme by honouring the seventh prime minister of India.

Named after Jawahar Lal Nehru, who died long before the Navodaya scheme was started in 1986 by the government headed by his grandson, the residential schools have a tight deadline of August 20 to adhere to. They must use their scarce human resources – at a time when most of the teachers and pupils go home on summer vacations – in creating ‘Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Vans’ on their premises with the statue of the Congress leader.

What justifies such an action? Is it the fact that Rajiv Gandhi’s government started the Navodaya scheme? Why then has it taken successive Congress-led governments 25 years to force the schools to honour the memory of Rajiv Gandhi?

And what could have been Navodaya Vidyalayas’ connection with Nehru to be named after him?

What next?

Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi….. the offspring of Priyanka Gandhi.

In fact, one can also go up the Nehru family tree to Moti Lal Nehru, as well as the Gandhi family tree up to Feroz Gandhi.

After creating Smriti Vans for all these worthies, JNVs will look something like museums in the memory of Gandhi-Nehru dynasty.
Would the governments led by BJP be justified then to force the JNVs to create Smriti Vans for Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Deen Dayal Upadhaya, Atal Bihari Vaypayee, etc.?

It’s something like asking: after Mayawati’s drive to spend crore of public funds on building statues of herself, will we see Mulayam Singh doing the same to ‘memorialize his greatness’ if he comes to power next?

But Maya is small fry compared to generations of dynasty-worshipping, spineless creatures who have made Congress probably the world’s most sycophantic party.

Their leaders pretend to work to promote democracy while reinforcing a dynastic and personality cult that insidiously damages whatever amount of democracy is found in our polity and society.

Judge it yourself.