Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma paid tribute to the late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, describing him as a “great leader.” However, Sarma also criticized the Congress party for allegedly politicizing Singh’s passing shortly after his cremation.
“All I want to say is that Dr. Manmohan Singh was a great leader, he served our country a lot. The politics that Congress has done on the last journey shows their very bad mentality… The same Congress party insulted Pranab Mukherjee ji, when Manmohan Singh ji was the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi insulted him and that is in the public domain,” CM Himanta Biswa told reporters in Haridwar.
“Congress party has no issue… Congress has started politics in this too…,” he added.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Sarma visited and offered prayers at the Narayani Shila Temple in Haridwar.
After the Cabinet meeting on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the late Singh’s family that the government would allocate space for a memorial. The cremation and other formalities were delayed as a trust needed to be formed and space allocated for the memorial.
Manmohan Singh was given a state funeral with military honors at the Nigam Bodh Ghat, a public cremation ground in North Delhi, on Saturday.
Congress had demanded that the funeral take place at a location where a memorial could be built. The Centre assured that land for the memorial would be designated in the coming days.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that Singh’s cremation take place at a location suitable for a memorial to honor his legacy. Manmohan Singh, aged 92, passed away at AIIMS, Delhi on Thursday night due to age-related medical conditions. He had a sudden loss of consciousness at home, after which he was rushed to the hospital.