Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was cremated with full state honours at Nigambodh Ghat, but the Congress party had requested that the ceremony be held at a designated location where a memorial could be built in the future.
Shortly after the Cabinet meeting on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah communicated to Mallikarjun Kharge and the family of late former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that the Government would allocate space for the memorial, according to a statement.
It further said that cremation and other formalities could happen because a trust had to be formed and space had to be allocated to it.
"The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister of the Sikh community, Dr Manmohan Singh ji has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites today at the Nigambodh Ghat," LoP Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.
People from all walks of life paid their last respects to Dr Manmohan Singh.
President Droupadi Murmu offered floral wreaths. Foreign dignitaries like the King of Bhutan Jigme Wangchuk and the foreign minister of Mauritius were also present.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes, followed by top BJP leaders like Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda.
"He was the Prime Minister of India for a decade, during his tenure the country became an economic superpower and his policies are still the support of the poor and backward classes of the country. Till date, respecting the dignity of all former Prime Ministers, their last rites were performed at authorised burial sites so that every person could have the last darshan and pay homage without any inconvenience," Rahul Gandhi said.
He seems to be totally 'ignorant' that Late P V Narasimha Rao was also a former Prime Minister.
The Centre issued a statement on Friday night titled 'Facts of the Matter Regarding the Memorial for Former Prime Minister Late Dr Manmohan Singh', which stated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had communicated to Kharge and Singh's family that the government would allocate space for the memorial. In the meantime, cremation and other formalities could proceed, as a trust needs to be formed and space allocated to it.
The BJP has countered Congress's charges, accusing them of playing politics over Manmohan Singh's funeral.
BJP president JP Nadda, also Union Minister, called the Congress leaders' statements reflective of their "despicable mindset" and said "no amount of condemnation is enough". He said that the Centre had allocated space for the memorial and informed his family about it as he accused the Congress of indulging in "cheap politics".
"When the entire nation mourns the demise of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ji, the Congress party is busy turning this moment of grief into an opportunity to fulfill their political agenda.
Gandhi family has neither honored nor delivered justice to any leader of the nation, even if they were from the Congress party.
The nation will never forget or forgive the historic sins of the principle-less Congress party," Nadda tweeted.
Now this is a case of what insult would mean -- “The home minister, Shivraj Patil, suggested to Rao’s youngest son, Prabhakara, that ‘the body should be cremated in Hyderabad’. But the family preferred Delhi.
After all, Rao had last been chief minister of Andhra Pradesh more than thirty years ago, and had since worked as Congress general secretary, Union minister, and finally the prime minister — all in Delhi. On hearing this, the usually decorous Shivraj Patil snapped, ‘No one will come’,” Vinay Sitapati wrote in book 'Half Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India'.
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