Manmohan Singh memorial row: Understanding the provision for separate memorials amid Congress-BJP war of words

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pays last respects to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, at AICC headquarters in New Delhi. (PTI photo)

Hours after former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s funeral at Nigambodh Ghat, a fresh political storm erupted Saturday (December 28) between the Congress and the BJP over the location of his memorial in the national capital.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP-led government of "insulting" Singh by denying him a dedicated resting place, while BJP president and Union Minister JP Nadda countered it by accusing the Congress of politicising the matter.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting a separate memorial site for the late Prime Minister. Kharge also followed up with a formal letter to Modi, while Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal raised the issue with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Congress had sought to have Singh’s cremation conducted at a location where a memorial could later be established in his honour.

Rahul Gandhi criticised the government's decision to conduct the cremation at Nigambodh Ghat, calling it a slight to Singh’s legacy. Gandhi said that the government had “insulted” the “great son of Mother India and the Sikh community’s first Prime Minister”.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement noting that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had informed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the family of Manmohan Singh about the government's decision to allocate space for a memorial. “In the meanwhile, cremation and other formalities can happen because a trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated to it,” the MHA said.

Union Minister JP Nadda dismissed the Congress’s claims as baseless and accused its leadership of playing politics over Singh’s death. “It is necessary to remember the history of Congress. After the death of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, there was a demand to build a Samadhi Sthal in Delhi’s Rajghat complex. But at that time Sonia Gandhi had rejected it. It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who established a memorial for him in 2015,” Nadda said.

The ongoing dispute also highlights the UPA government’s 2013 decision to create a common memorial ground, Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, to address the scarcity of land for individual memorials. This policy, ironically, was initiated under Singh’s leadership as Prime Minister.

The demand for a separate memorial for Singh has also brought into focus the Congress’s controversial history of sidelining its leaders outside the Nehru-Gandhi family. Observers have often criticised the party for underplaying the contributions of figures like PV Narasimha Rao.

Rao, India’s first non-Nehru-Gandhi Congress Prime Minister to complete a full term, faced humiliation posthumously. In 2004, his body was not allowed inside the Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road, and his cortege was left on the pavement outside. Unlike other Congress Prime Ministers, Rao has no dedicated resting place in Delhi.

Adding to the controversy, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri claimed that Congress leaders did not accompany Singh’s family when his ashes were immersed in the Yamuna River. “While BJP leaders were present, senior Congress leaders were notably absent,” Puri said on Sunday (December 29).

Congress leaders responded by emphasising their respect for Singh’s family’s privacy. “Our absence was out of deference to the wishes of the family, who wanted a private ceremony,” said a senior Congress leader.