Manmohan Singh, one of India’s most sagacious — and often savaged — Prime Ministers, will be taken along his final mortal journey on Saturday. The funeral of the 92-year-old leader, who passed away on Thursday night, will be conducted with full state honours amidst a seven-day period of national mourning.

But a row spiralled late evening over the Centre’s decision not to allot a reserved resting place for Manmohan Singh by the Yamuna along Raj Ghat where several former Prime Ministers lie.

The Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Badal led the outcry and was swiftly followed by several top leaders of the Congress which had requested a special allocation as final resting place for the former Prime Minister.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking that Singh’s funeral be conducted at a place “where his memorial can be built”. The letter was a follow-up to a telephone conversation Kharge had had with Modi on the subject on Friday morning, Congress sources said.

However, late in the evening, the Union home ministry said the “state funeral” would take place at the Nigambodh Ghat, a public cremation place on the Yamuna’s banks, “at 11:45am”.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the government decision was a “deliberate insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister”. Badal slammed the government’s “deplorable decision”.

“Shocking and unbelievable! It is condemnable that union government has declined the request of Dr Manmohan Singh’s family for performing the funeral... at a place where an appropriate and historic memorial may be built…,” Badal posted on X, stressing that Singh was the “only member of the Sikh community to rise to become the Prime Minister”.

Singh’s mortal remains were kept at his official residence, 3 Motilal Nehru Marg, on Friday for people to pay their respects. On Saturday morning, his remains will be taken to the Congress headquarters, 24 Akbar Road.

“Dr Singh’s final journey to the heavenly abode will commence from AICC HQ to the cremation ground at 9:30am tomorrow,” the Congress said.

Modi paid his last respects at Singh’s residence on Friday. The Union cabinet chaired by him passed a “Condolence Resolution” and observed two minutes’ silence.

Late Prime Ministers such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Charan Singh have their separate memorials on the Yamuna’s banks. Kharge, seeking a similar honour for Singh in his two-page letter to Modi, had highlighted the former Prime Minister’s achievements and global standing.

“His wise counsel, leadership and contribution in mitigating global economic financial crisis is well acknowledged... President Obama during his tenure as President of US mentioned Dr Singh and remarked that ‘whenever the Indian Prime Minister speaks, the whole world listens to him’,” he wrote.

Others, such as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had spoken to defence minister Rajnath Singh to press the same demand for a separate memorial for Singh, Congress sources said.

Faced with a shortage of space on the Yamuna’s banks, Singh’s UPA government (2004-14) had in 2013 decided on a common memorial ground — the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal at Raj Ghat — for departed Presidents and Prime Ministers. It used this decision to block several requests for separate memorials.

Former Prime Ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao (d. 2004) and Inder Kumar Gujral (d. 2012) share the common memorial. Rao, who died in New Delhi but was cremated in Hyderabad, was made part of the Smriti Sthal only in 2015, on the Modi government’s watch.

However, the Modi government broke with this practice and accorded a separate samadhi to the first BJP Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, after he died in 2018.

Now the Congress, often accused of downplaying the importance of party leaders from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, wants the same honour for Singh. The BJP had accused the Congress of being in thrall to the Nehru-Gandhis when the UPA government denied Rao a resting place on the Yamuna’s banks.

On Friday, the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution that said: “The Congress Working Committee mourns the loss of a true statesman, Dr Manmohan Singh, whose life and work have profoundly shaped the destiny of India.”

As Prime Minister, the resolution said, Singh had led the country with “a sense of calm determination and exceptional wisdom”.

The party pledged to honour “Singh’s memory and carry forward his enduring legacy”.

It added: “Dr Singh’s legacy as a leader, an economist, and a humble human being will live on, inspiring all of us to contribute to the continued progress and betterment of our great nation.”

The Union cabinet’s condolence resolution said: “Dr Manmohan Singh has left his imprint on our national life. In his passing away, the Nation has lost an eminent statesman, renowned economist and a distinguished leader.”

It added: “On the day of State Funeral, a half-day holiday will be declared in all the Central Government offices and CPSUs.”

During the seven-day state mourning, which extends till January 1, the national flag will fly at half-mast throughout the country and at all the Indian missions abroad.