Union culture minister Gajendra Shekhawat on Wednesday claimed that some documents related to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru were with Sonia Gandhi, his remark coming a day after the Congress demanded an apology citing the Centre’s admission that none of Nehru’s papers were “missing”.

“Nehru Papers are not ‘missing’ from PMML. ‘Missing’ entails that the whereabouts are unknown. In reality, 51 cartons of Jawaharlal Nehru papers were formally taken back by the family in 2008 from Prime Ministers Museum and Library (then NMML). Their location is known. Hence, they are ‘not missing’,” Shekhawat posted on X.

“These papers were handed over officially in 2008, on request, with records and catalogues maintained by PMML. What does require an answer is this: Why have these papers not been returned despite multiple reminders from PMML, including the recent reminders in January and July 2025?

“I respectfully ask Sonia Gandhi ji to explain to the country: What is being withheld? What is being hidden? The excuses being given by Smt Sonia Gandhi for not returning these papers are not tenable. The point is that why are important historical documents still outside the public archive?” he wrote.

The Telegraph viewed copies of the letters exchanged between PMML director Ashwani Lohani and Sonia
in July.

On Lohani’s demand to return the papers as they “may be lost to posterity”, Sonia wrote on July 14: “As you mentioned, the library holds the papers of former Prime Ministers, including the late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the late Smt. Indira Gandhi and the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi. You have requested that any additional papers of the above-mentioned Prime Ministers, if available, be made available. Additionally, you have referred to some documents that were returned in 2008.

“Due to specific health reasons, recently I have undergone certain medical investigations and procedures. However, I will examine the available papers and cooperate to make over any additional papers related to the former Prime Ministers, which would add value to the existing collection.”

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday, culture minister Shekhawat had told fellow BJP MP Sambit Patra that “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”.

This appeared to contradict the BJP’s claims in the past year that a representative of Sonia in 2008 removed 51 cartons filled with the correspondence of India’s first Prime Minister from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), now known as the PMML. Sonia heads the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF), which donated these documents in 1971.

The JNMF recently launched a free-access digital archive of Nehru’s works and writings, covering around 35,000 documents.

Shekhawat on Wednesday posted on X: “The Nehru Papers were taken out in 2008, during the UPA period, when public institutions were often treated as family preserves. Smt. Sonia Gandhi herself has acknowledged in writing that these papers are with her and promised to ‘co-operate’ on the matter.”