Guwahati: The leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the BJP-led state government of disregarding Manmohan Singh's legacy on the day of his funeral by holding government functions to distribute ration cards despite having declared seven days' mourning.

In his letter to Modi sent on Saturday, the LoP and three-time Congress MLA, Debabrata Saikia, said Singh was not just a former Prime Minister but also a “coveted member” of the Rajya Sabha from Assam for more than 28 years.

“Yet, the (state) government, having declared a seven-day state mourning from 26.12.2024 to 01.01.2025, was found violating its own decision in complete disregard and disrepute to the legacy of the Late Dr Manmohan Singh. This was also a violation of the Union cabinet decision to not hold any state function during the period of state mourning," Saikia wrote.

Saikia said the state government was “found to be organising and celebrating scheme launches and programmes at the same time when Late Dr Manmohan Singh's funeral was being done and you (Modi) were attending the funeral (in Delhi)”.

“Not only this, instead of observing a state mourning, the government of Assam was seen to be acting as if it was business as usual. Such scheme launch events could have been avoided, at least on the day of the funeral of the Late Dr Manmohan Singh. This act is very unfortunate while state mourning was declared by the Union cabinet presided by you,” Saikia added without specifying the schemes.

He told The Telegraph that ration card distribution functions were held in several districts on Saturday.

The X handle of the Assam chief minister’s office had on Saturday uploaded photos of the functions held in 39 constituencies across 12 districts.

Saikia urged Modi to ensure that Assam "duly observes the mourning and pays due homage" to Singh's legacy.

A CMO source said chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had not attended the ration card distribution functions.