Nehru-Edwina bond in spotlight again with PMML urging Gandhis to return letters the first PM wrote to her

That the three shared a unique bond is well known but their real relationship still is a subject of many conjectures. Was it romantic, was it emotional or was it only one of an intellectual ferment?

Well, the bond between Nehru and Edwina is once again in news with the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library (PMML) formally asking Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to return Nehru's historical letters written to several eminent personalities of that period, including those addressed to Lady Edwina Mountbatten.

According to reports, the letters were removed from public access by the Congress-led UPA government in 2008.

On request of then UPA chairperson and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Nehru's letters to 20th century greats like Albert Einstein, Lord Mountbatten, Padmaja Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali and Babu Jagjivan Ram were removed from the PMML, which was then the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

The collection comprises 51 boxes of Nehru's letters. The letters sent by Nehru to Edwina cannot be accessed right now.

Focussing on the letter and its content, BJP leader Sambit Patra wrote on X: "What intrigues me is what would have Nehru ji written to EDWINA MOUNTBATTEN that needed censoring and will LOP Rahul help getting back the letters between Nehru and Edwina!"

Curious case of Nehru-Edwina friendship

The ties between Nehru and the Mountbatten couple, which their daughter Pamela described as a “happy three-some”, has been dealt with at great length in various books, including Alex von Tunzelmann’s ‘Indian Summer’ (2007), reported The Indian Express.

The relationship shared between Nehru and Mountbatten was a subject of much speculation and gossip during their lifetimes, and it has been the subject of numerous books, articles, and films.

While the exact nature of their relationship is still a matter of debate among historians and biographers, it is widely acknowledged that Nehru and Edwina shared a deep emotional bond, and that their relationship was an important part of their lives.

According to a 1988 article in India Today, Nehru's letters to Lady Mountbatten began in 1948, when Mountbattens left India, and went on till 1961, when she died.

"The importance of these missives is in the revelation of the extent to which Nehru discussed matters of state with Lady Mountbatten. The letters read like a diary: Nehru expressing his doubts, hopes and innermost thoughts 'to a good listener on paper' according to Janet Morgan, the biographer-historian, now working on the official biography of Lady Mountbatten to be published by Collins next year,"  according to the article by Madhu Jain.