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Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had asked why the govt could not find a location for the memorial, calling it an insult to India’s first Sikh PM
Published : 28 Dec 2024, 12:55 PM
Hours before former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh was laid to rest, a row has ensued over a memorial to him, NDTV reports.
On Friday, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had spoken to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the possibility of building a memorial to Singh at the site where his last rites would be performed.
"This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former prime ministers at the very place of their funerals," he said.
In a press release, India's Home Minister Amit Shah had said a place for Singh’s memorial would be allocated, adding that the cremation and other funeral preparations could go ahead in the meantime.
This drew criticism from Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who asked why the BJP-led government could not find a location for the memorial and referred to it as an "insult" to India’s first Sikh prime minister.
The BJP then responded, calling on Congress to stop using dirty politics.
"Congress should recall how they treated former PM Narasimha Rao Ji after his death. The daughter of Shri Pranab Mukherjee also has tweeted how shabbily her father, a former President, was treated by the Congress," a party statement read.
Singh served as prime minister from 2004 to 2014. He also served as the chief of the Reserve Bank of India and finance minister under PV Narasimha Rao.
He died in Delhi on Thursday at the age of 92.
His body was taken from the headquarters of the All India Congress Committee to the cremation ground at 9:30am on Saturday and his last rites were held at Delhi’s Nigambodh Ghat at 11:45am.
