Opposition questions govt for 'not granting' special place for Manmohan Singh's funeral

After the Centre announced that former PM Manmohan Singh will be cremated at Nigambodh Ghat crematorium with full state honours on Saturday, Congress leadership formally requested PM Narendra Modi to allot a place for cremation and memorial at the designated site near Rajghat on the banks of the Yamuna. Some Opposition leaders also questioned the BJP-led government's decision.

As per an official statement of May 2013, the Union Cabinet had approved constructing a 'Rashtriya Smriti' to perform last rites of national leaders. Sources suggested, if required, a memorial for Singh can be built there.

Manish Tewari, a CWC member and I&B minister in the erstwhile Singh government, told ET: "Dr Manmohan Singhji was the PM for 10 years. He was also the only Sikh who made it to this high office. He discharged his responsibilities with equanimity and grace. It would have been in the fitness of things if Manmohan Singhji, who was also the only PM India had from a minority community, had been accorded the same respect and reverence as had been given to almost all former PMs by granting him a special resting place."


SAD's Sukhbir Badal posted on X: "It is inexplicable why the government is showing such disrespect to the great leader who was the only member of the Sikh community to rise to become the Prime Minister..."

All ex-PMs - with the controversial exclusion of PV Narasinha Rao, when he died during UPA era (a fact being pointed out by other political quarters) - were allotted resting places on the designated places along the Yamuna.

Meanwhile, the late President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter, Sharmistha, now no longer with Congress, rued that no special CWC meeting was held to mourn Mukherjee's death.