Farewell, Manmohan Singh. Last rites with state honours, nation pays tribute

Farewell, Manmohan Singh. Last rites with state honours, nation pays tribute

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, December 28, 2024: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s last rites were held with full state honours today at the Nigambodh Ghat, a public cremation ground in Delhi. Several politicians are attending the funeral.

Dr Manmohan Singh’s last rites were held today, with President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, among others attending the ceremony. Dr Singh’s body was first taken to the Congress headquarters in the national capital.

The Centre has declared a seven-day state mourning throughout the country as a mark of respect to Dr Singh. During this period, the national flag will be flown at half-mast across India. The Congress has also declared that all official programs of the party, including the Foundation Day celebration, will be cancelled for the next seven days and will resume on January 3.

A row erupted between the Centre and Congress over the allotment of space for Dr Singh’s memorial on Friday. The Congress condemned the allocation of the Nigambodh Ghat for the final rituals instead of a location where a memorial could be built in his honour.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about exploring the possibility of building a memorial for Dr Singh at the same site where the last rites would be held. "Apropos our telephonic conversation this morning, wherein I made a request to hold Dr Manmohan Singh’s last rites, which will take place tomorrow i.e. 28th December 2024, at his final resting place that would be a sacrosanct venue for a memorial of the great son of India. This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former prime ministers at the very place of their funerals," Mr Kharge wrote in a letter on Friday.

However, BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan hit back at Congress, calling the party’s behaviour "ironic". "It is indeed ironic that a Congress President is writing to PM Narendra Modi ji about traditions and the funeral place becoming the sacrosanct venue for a memorial. One should remind Kharge ji how the Congress-led UPA government never built a memorial in Delhi for former PM Narasimha Rao ji, who passed away in 2004," he said.

The Centre also clarified that it will allocate a space for Dr Singh’s memorial - which was also conveyed to Mr Kharge and Dr Singh’s family. However, it said that in the meantime, cremation and other formalities can take place because a "trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated".

Courtesy: NDTV