'A Clash On Memory Lane': Why Congress Is Attacking BJP Over Manmohan Singh's Last Rites, Memorial

Last Updated:December 28, 2024, 21:22 IST

The fact that the Congress was at full strength is a testimony to the fact that the party wants to own up to its former PM and not let the BJP hog any credit. It wants to project Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government...Read More

Former PM Manmohan Singh died on December 26. Image/News18

Barely has the fire of the funeral pyre dimmed, and politics has been stoked over a memorial for late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Congress was assured by union home minister Amit Shah that a trust would be set up soon for a samadhi of the former PM.

But matters have not ended here. Congress leaders are up in arms, accusing the government of insulting Dr Singh. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took the lead. She accused the government of disrespecting the legacy and contribution of Manmohan Singh and also the self-respecting Sikh community. Manickam Tagore and others too have joined the chorus.

Not stopping at this, the entire last rites ceremony was criticised by the Congress. Pawan Khera took to social media site X and said, “The state funeral of Dr Manmohan Singh was a shocking display of disrespect and mismanagement – No news agencies except DD were allowed; DD focused on Modi & Shah, barely covering Dr Manmohan Singh’s family. Only 3 chairs were kept in the front row for Dr Singh’s family. Congress leaders had to insist on seats for his daughters and other family members. PM & ministers did not stand up when the Flag was handed to the widow of the late Prime Minister, or during the gun salute."

The BJP hit back at the opposition party, where it hurts most. First, it said that the Congress had not allowed the mortal remains of its former PM Narasimha Rao to enter the head office. It added that his memorial was made not in Delhi but in Hyderabad.

BJP chief JP Nadda said, “This is the same Congress which tarnished the dignity of the post of PM by placing Sonia Gandhi as super PM above PM Manmohan Singh. Rahul Gandhi insulted PM Manmohan Singh by tearing the ordinance. And today the same Rahul Gandhi is doing politics. The Gandhi family has neither given respect to any big leader of the country nor done justice to them. Whether it is from the Congress party or the opposition, whether it is Baba Saheb Ambedkar, the country’s first President Rajendra Babu, Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narasimha Rao, Pranab Da, Atal Bihari Vajpayee…" He also quoted late President and Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee’s statement that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) never met for her father nor was there any condolence meeting.

So why is the Congress making this an issue?

The fact that the Congress was at full strength is a testimony to the fact that the party wants to own up to its former PM and not let the BJP hog any credit.

It wants to project Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government as insensitive.

Not just this, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raised the “Sikh point" just ahead of the 2025 Delhi polls and also to chalk out a strategy for Punjab later. In Delhi, the Congress doesn’t want the BJP to use the 1984 Sikh riots issue. BJP MP Aprajita Sarangi gifted a bag with 1984 printed on it to Priyanka, symbolic of the anti-Sikh riots, which has angered the Congress and it wants to counter this narrative.

But the BJP has always found a weak spot in the Congress. That when it came to non-Gandhis or anyone who stood up to them, they got scant respect. Dr Singh too was “humiliated" by the Congress, but because he never complained, according to the BJP, the Gandhis are backing him.

The mourning period for Dr Singh is on. But the politics over his memorial is alive.

News politics 'A Clash On Memory Lane': Why Congress Is Attacking BJP Over Manmohan Singh's Last Rites, Memorial