The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, December 28, 2024, accused the Congress of politicizing the issue of a memorial for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, despite the government’s decision to honor him.
BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi stated that the government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had already decided to build a memorial for Singh and communicated this to the Congress leadership on Friday. “The BJP and the NDA government are fully committed to giving Manmohan Singh the respect he deserves for laying the foundation of the country’s economic development,” Trivedi said. “Yesterday, in a cabinet meeting, it was decided that a memorial and mausoleum will be built in his memory, and this decision was shared with Congress.”
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Trivedi also mentioned that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had informed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of the government’s plans, assuring that the memorial would be built once processes like land acquisition, trust formation, and land transfer were completed. The Congress had earlier expressed a desire for Singh’s cremation to take place at a site where a memorial could be built, but his cremation occurred at Nigambodh Ghat, a public crematorium.
The BJP spokesperson criticized the Congress for politicizing the issue even after Singh’s death. “The Congress party, which never respected Dr. Manmohan Singh during his lifetime, is now playing politics over his death. Dr. Singh was the first Prime Minister outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve for 10 years. At least now, in this time of grief, politics should be set aside,” Trivedi added. “PM Modi’s government has honored all leaders, rising above party politics.”
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It is worth noting that the UPA government under Manmohan Singh had, in 2013, announced plans for a common memorial for all future Prime Ministers and leaders at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in Rajghat, instead of individual memorials.
