The Congress and the BJP continued to engage in mud-slinging over the “show of disrespect” to Manmohan Singh even a day after the former Prime Minister was cremated.

The BJP on Sunday sought to counter the Congress’s allegation that the arrangements at Singh’s state funeral were a “shocking display of disrespect and mismanagement”.

BJP social media head Amit Malviya accused the Congress of politicising Singh’s death and came up with a detailed post seeking to deny the charges levelled by Congress leader Pawan Khera.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri also targeted the Congress by pointing out that no member of the Gandhi family was present during the immersion of Singh’s ashes on Sunday.

On the Congress’s charge that only state media Doordarshan was allowed to cover Singh’s cremation and it focused only on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, Malviya posted on X: “MoD (Ministry of Defence) has no role in coverage of functions. In the past as well, only DD has done the coverage. Restriction on entry is by security agencies. National functions are also covered by DD only.”

On Khera’s charge that enough chairs had not been provided to Singh’s family members, Malviya said everything was done in keeping with the protocol for such events.

“Seating at the funeral site is arranged by the CPWD in consultation with the Delhi police. The number of seats in the front row was kept at a maximum, as per the available space. Five (5) seats were earmarked for family members in the first row,” Malviya said, adding that the remaining 20 seats were reserved for constitutional authorities.

On Khera’s allegation that the “public was kept out” by using the security excuse, Malviya said: “Public restriction is imposed by security agencies for overall security. The whole venue was full.”

Khera had also alleged that Shah’s motorcade had disrupted the funeral procession, leaving family cars outside. Malviya shot it down by claiming that details of family cars were sought in advance and passes were issued to them by the security unit for parking. “There was no disruption in the funeral procession,” he said.

The Congress had claimed that Singh’s “grandchildren, while performing some rituals, had to jostle for space to reach the pyre”, but Malviya said only family members, priests and ceremonial guards were present near the pyre.

The decision to hold the cremation at Nigambodh Ghat, a public site, was termed an “insult” to Singh by the Congress, which had demanded a separate place near Rajghat.

Puri claimed the decision was taken because of logistical challenges due to heavy rain in Delhi. “The area around Rajghat is flat and prone to water-logging. The weather forecast predicted heavy rain. Ask the Congress if it was possible to erect structures in such conditions in a short time,” Puri told a news channel.

Puri also picked on the Congress over the immersion of Singh’s ashes. “I looked hard into that picture, not a single member of the Congress was there to collect the remains of Dr Singh,” Puri said.