The Congress and the BJP hit out at each other shortly after Manmohan Singh’s state funeral on Saturday, trading charges about disrespecting the former Prime Minister after his death and during his career, respectively.

Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra excoriated the Narendra Modi government for having “insulted” the “first Prime Minister of the Sikh community” by having his last rites performed at a public crematorium.

BJP leaders struck back with the allegation that the Congress had undermined Singh throughout his stint as Prime Minister by foisting then party president Sonia Gandhi on him as an extra-constitutional authority.

The mortal remains of former PM Manmohan Singh being carried during the his State Funeral, at the Nigam Bodh Ghat in New Delhi, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.

“The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister of the Sikh community, Dr. Manmohan Singh ji, has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites today at the Nigambodh Ghat,” Rahul posted on X.

“Till date, respecting the dignity of all former Prime Ministers, their last rites were performed at authorised memorial sites so that people could pay homage without any inconvenience,” he added.

“Dr Manmohan Singh deserves our highest respect and a memorial. The government should have shown respect to this great son of the country and his proud community.”

Late Congress Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, who died in New Delhi in late 2004 when the Congress-led UPA was in power, was cremated in Hyderabad.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had on Friday written to Prime Minister Modi asking that Singh’s funeral be conducted at a place “where his memorial could be built”.

Late on Friday night, however, the government in a statement agreed to allocate space to build a memorial for Singh but denied the request for a separate cremation site. It said the funeral would be conducted at Nigambodh Ghat and sought some time to find space for the memorial.

“HM (home minister) Amit Shah communicated to Congress president Shri Kharge that the government will allocate space for the 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 statement said.

‘Mismanagement’

Late in the evening, the Congress complained about the arrangements at the Nigambodh Ghat, seeking to also justify its demand for a separate cremation site for Singh.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that “the state funeral of Dr Manmohan Singh was a shocking display of disrespect and mismanagement”.

He said no news agency barring Doordarshan was allowed, and the public broadcaster focused “on Modi & Shah, barely covering Dr Manmohan Singh’s family”.

Further, he said, only three chairs were kept in the front row for Singh’s family, and Congress leaders had to intervene to make room for other family members.

“PM & ministers did not stand up when the National Flag was handed to the widow of the late Prime Minister, or during the gun salute. The family was given inadequate space around the pyre due to soldiers occupying one side. Public was kept out…,” Khera said.

“Amit Shah’s motorcade disrupted the funeral procession, leaving family cars outside. The gate was closed, and family members had to be located and brought back in….”

Overnight row

The decision to have the funeral at the Nigambodh Ghat had immediately sparked controversy on Friday night, with several leaders from the Congress and some other Opposition parties alleging a “deliberate insult to the first Sikh PM”.

Some asked why Singh was not being accorded the same respect as his BJP predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee. After his death in 2018, Vajpayee was accorded a separate funeral site on the banks of the Yamuna, where his memorial “Sadaiv Atal” now stands.

Priyanka, MP from Waynad, too stressed Singh’s Sikh identity. She said the “government had not done justice” to the “personality of Manmohan Singh, his legacy and the self-respecting Sikh community”.

“This morning, I felt this when I saw Dr Manmohan Singh’s family members struggling for a place at the funeral site, trying to find a place in the crowd, and the general public getting troubled due to lack of space and paying tribute from the road outside,” she posted on X.

The BJP accused the Congress of playing “politics” over Singh’s death. “The Congress party never respected Dr Manmohan Singh in his lifetime. Today, in his death, they are seen doing politics,” BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said.

He claimed the BJP and the NDA government were fully committed to according due respect to Singh by building a memorial.

“(The) Congress should recall how they treated former PM Narasimha Rao Ji after his death. The daughter of Shri Pranab Mukherjee also has tweeted how shabbily her father, a former President, was treated by the Congress,” a BJP statement said.

Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said: “When Dr Manmohan Singh was among us, when he was the PM, if anyone has played with his respect, then it is the Congress party.”

In a video message, BJP president J.P. Nadda alleged: “The Congress, which never gave respect to Dr Manmohan Singh while he was alive, is now doing politics in the name of (demanding) respect for him.

“This is the same Congress that tarnished the dignity of the post of PM by placing Sonia Gandhi as super PM above PM Manmohan Singh. Rahul Gandhi insulted PM Manmohan Singh by tearing (an) ordinance. And today the same Rahul Gandhi is doing politics.”

Nadda added: “The government under the leadership of PM Modi has given place for Manmohan Singh’s samadhi and has also informed the family. Still, the Congress is spreadingfalse news.”