The BJP has reminded the Congress that they never built a memorial to late PV Narsimha Rao and that his body was sent to Hyderabad. But the BJP Government would be allocating land to the former PM Manmohan Singh.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about exploring the possibility of building a memorial for Dr Singh at the same site where the last rites would be held.
“Apropos our telephonic conversation this morning, wherein I made a request to hold Dr Manmohan Singh’s last rites, which will take place tomorrow i.e. 28th December 2024, at his final resting place that would be a sacrosanct venue for a memorial of the great son of India.
This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former prime ministers at the very place of their funerals,” Mr Kharge wrote in a letter on Friday.
However, BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan hit back at Congress, calling the party’s behaviour “ironic”. “It is indeed ironic that a Congress President is writing to PM Narendra Modi ji about traditions and the funeral place becoming the sacrosanct venue for a memorial.
One should remind Kharge ji how the Congress-led UPA government never built a memorial in Delhi for former PM Narasimha Rao ji, who passed away in 2004,” he said.
The Centre also clarified that it will allocate a space for Dr Singh’s memorial – which was also conveyed to Mr Kharge and Dr Singh’s family.However, it said that in the meantime, cremation and other formalities can take place because a “trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated”.
