New Delhi: A day after Dr Manmohan Singh’s cremation, his family members collected his ashes on Sunday while leaders from the Congress and the Gandhi family remained conspicuous by their absence, said a Sikh leader who was present at Nigambodh Ghat in the morning.
Dr Singh, 92, died on Thursday and was cremated with full state honours amid a row over the choice of the cremation site, with Rahul Gandhi claiming that the BJP had “totally insulted” the former PM by selecting Nigambodh Ghat for the last rites.
On Sunday’s chilly morning, there were alleged murmurs among those present at the cremation ground over the Gandhi family’s decision to skip the ritual of collecting the ashes of the departed leader.
The absence of Rahul Gandhi, who had accompanied the former PM’s body in an Army vehicle adorned with flowers to the cremation ground, was among the talking points.
“Very sad to see that not a single person from Congress or the Gandhi family came to collect the remains of Dr Manmohan Singh Ji,” said an attendee.
On the cremation day, the Congress and its leaders were present in strength to get media attention and to politicise the memorial matter but when it came to honouring Dr Singh with dignity, only some Sikh leaders and Dr Singh’s family members were there for ash-collection, he said.
The absence of Congress leaders and the Gandhi family added fuel to the fire over the grand old party’s perceived habit of ill-treating non-Gandhi leaders.
Pointing to the memorial demand, BJP president J.P. Nadda said on Saturday that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi were playing “cheap politics” on Dr Singh’s name and accused the party of not doing justice to any leader who was not from the Nehru-Gandhi family.
“The government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, allocated land for the memorial of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh ji and duly informed his family. Despite this, Congress continues to spread false narratives,” he said.
Union Railways Minister and senior BJP leader Ashwini Vaishnaw hit out at the Congress for playing politics over the last rites and recalled the then Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi publicly tore an ordinance which was approved by the Union Cabinet under Dr Singh in 2013.
In a post on social media platform X, Union Minister Vaishnaw said: “The ultimate insult came in 2013 when Rahul Gandhi publicly tore up an ordinance approved by the Cabinet chaired by Dr Singh as Prime Minister of India. Height of hypocrisy indeed.”
BJP National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Saturday slammed the Congress party for engaging in what he termed “dirty politics” around demands for a memorial in Dr Singh’s honour.
Trivedi said, “Everyone is aware that when Dr Manmohan Singh was alive, he did not get proper respect from the Congress and now condemnable politics is being done after his demise.”
A day before the funeral, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, citing Dr Singh’s stature and his contributions to the country requested that the last rites be conducted in a place where a memorial could also be built in his name.
As the controversy over the memorial gathered steam, the Centre issued a release ahead of the funeral stating that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said a place would be allocated for Dr Singh’s memorial.
Earlier, Nadda said it is important to recall Congress’ history of insulting non-Gandhi leaders.
On December 23, 2004, after the demise of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao ji, a request was made to establish a memorial in Delhi. However, the Congress denied approval for the same, he said
“The Congress did not even allow P.V. Narasimha Rao ji’s mortal remains to be placed at the Congress headquarters. They did not want his last rites to be conducted in Delhi, which is why the cremation ultimately took place in Hyderabad,” said Nadda.
“It was PM Modi who, in 2015, ensured the construction of a Samadhi for Narasimha Rao Ji in Delhi and honoured him by awarding the Bharat Ratna in 2024, truly recognising and restoring his legacy,” said Nadda.
(IANS)
