Amid controversy, the Indian government has allocated a space for the memorial of former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

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Announcing this, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a press release on Friday (Dec 27) that the decision has been shared with his family and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday at 11:45 am.

The decision comes hours after Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh condemned the BJP-led central government for holding the last rites at Nigam Bodh Ghat and not giving a designated place for the cremation of Singh and called it a “deliberate insult.”

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Manmohan Singh last rites: MHA issues press release 

In the late-night press release titled “Facts of the matter regarding memorial for Former Prime Minister Late Dr Manmohan Singh," the home ministry said: “Immediately after the Cabinet meeting, [Home Minister] Amit Shah communicated to Congress President Shri Kharge and the family of late Dr Manmohan Singh that the government will allocate space for the memorial. In the meantime, cremation and other formalities can happen because a trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated to it.”

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Manmohan Singh cremation row: Inside details of what happened 

Congress earlier slammed the BJP for not giving a place for the late PM’s funeral.

Ramesh posted on X that the Congress President Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that Singh’s last rites should take place where a memorial could be built. 

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"This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former prime ministers at the very place of their funerals," Kharge said in his two-page letter.

Congress parliamentarian Manish Tewari condemned the BJP, saying it is “extremely unfortunate” to see Singh’s last rites being held at Nigam Bodh Ghat. 

President of All India Mahila Congress, Alka Lamba slammed the BJP government in a post on X: "The entire Sikh (Punjabi) community and the country will never forget this insult."

 

BJP responds to Congress 

The Modi-led government responded to the allegations, saying that Congress should stop playing dirty politics in such issues.

"Congress should recall how they treated former PM Narasimha Rao Ji after his death. The daughter of Shri Pranab Mukherjee also tweeted how shabbily her father, a former president, was treated by the Congress," a party statement said.

(With inputs from agencies)