The government will reserve space for a memorial of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and this has been conveyed to his family and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday night.
In fact of the matter in the form of facts of the matter regarding a memorial for Former Prime Minister Late Dr Manmohan Singh," the Ministry has said that the government has received a request from Congress Chief to allocate space to install a memorial for the Dr Singh.
Immediately after Cabinet meeting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah communicated to Kharge and the family of the deceased former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that government will allocate space for putting up the memorial.
Meanwhile, cremation and other formalities can happen as a Trust has to be formed and space allocated to it, the MHA said.
Dr Singh, who headed the Congress-led UPA government and is credited with economic reforms, passed away on Thursday at the age of 92.
He was India's Prime Minister for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.
It termed as a deliberate insult that a location for the cremation and memorial of the country's first Sikh Prime Minister, Dr Singh was not found.
The Congress took up the issue on Saturday after the Union Home Ministry stated that Dr Singh's last rites would be conducted at New Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat at 11.45 a.m. with full state honours.
Earlier on Friday, a political controversy emerged after Congress Chief Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting a separate memorial for Dr Manmohan Singh. The demand has raised questions and sparked debate, particularly given the historical context of Congress-led UPA governments rejecting similar demands in the past.
At the heart of the issue is Congress' request for a dedicated memorial site for Dr Singh, despite the fact that previous Congress-led governments established a common memorial, Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, for the cremation of VVIPs. This site, between the memorials of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri, has been the venue for the last rites of former Prime Ministers since it was inaugurated in 2013. Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also cremated there in 2018.
The Congress party is now demanding a separate memorial for Dr Singh, whereas the UPA government had earlier rejected proposals for individual memorials for former Prime Ministers. Political commentators and critics have pointed out this contradiction, with many questioning the rationale behind this new approach. Social media users have also been vocal in highlighting the inconsistency in the party's position.
In a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Kharge requested that Dr Singh's memorial be constructed at the very place where his last rites will be performed. And the whole political debate came forth in which some highlighted the fact that the decision seems to contradict the stance taken by the UPA Government while it was in power.
Indeed, Congress seems unhappy with the government's decision to perform Dr Manmohan Singh's last rites at Nigambodh Ghat. The former Prime Minister's funeral has been scheduled to take place in the national capital at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday noon.
"Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister, passed away at 9:51 p.m. on December 26, 2024, at AIIMS Hospital, New Delhi.". It has been decided by the Government that a State funeral will be accorded to Dr Manmohan Singh. The funeral will take place at 11:45 a.m. on December 28, 2024, at Nigambodh Ghat, New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence is requested to make arrangements for the State funeral with full military honours," the Ministry of Home Affairs stated.
According to reports, in a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, MP Priyanka Gandhi suggested that a part of either Veer Bhumi or Shakti Sthal should be used for the last rites of Dr Singh, so that it could become a memorial site. However, this request was delayed, and despite Congress insistence, the government confirmed Nigambodh Ghat as the final venue, without giving any assurance about the creation of a memorial site.
The leadership in the Congress is of course insisting on a memorial site that would do justice to the legacy of Dr Singh.
As the political storm brews over the debate on the memorial, analysts believe that this new demand by Congress represents a radical shift from its policy earlier regarding memorials for former leaders.
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