Hitting back at the Congress over its allegations of mismanagement at the state funeral of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said this was not the time to score “cheap political shots”.
Congress leaders, led by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, have accused the BJP of insulting the former Prime Minister by organising the cremation ceremony at Delhi’s Nigambodh Ghat.
In an interview with NDTV, Union Minister Puri said Mr Gandhi was trying to “mix facts with fiction”. He said the day after Dr Singh’s death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a cabinet meeting and it was decided that the former Prime Minister would be given a state funeral of the highest order. He said the Union Home Ministry also agreed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s request for a memorial for Dr Singh. “There is a facility called Ekta Sthal which a final resting place for four former Presidents and three former Prime Ministers. These are former Presidents Giani Zail Singh, Shankar Dayal Sharma, KR Narayanan and R Venkatraman, and former Prime Ministers Chandra Shekhar, IK Gujral and PV Narasimha Rao. This facility has place for nine, seven are occupied. But the request that came from Congress clearly suggested they wanted more, and that request was accepted,” he said.
Mr Puri then targeted the Congress over its treatment of Prime Minister Rao, credited with Dr Singh for India’s historic economic reforms in 1991. “Mr Rao died on December 23, 2004, and the Congress party, which is talking about insult, did not allow the body to be taken to the AICC headquarters. Congress party has always viewed the party in terms of the dynamics of the ruling family. So Narasimha Rao’s cremation took place in Hyderabad. It was only after Modi ji became Prime Minister that a place was provided (for his memorial),” he said.
Mr Puri said no one from the Gandhi family was present when Dr Singh’s ashes were taken for immersion today. “I looked hard into that picture, even Congress party office-bearers, I did not see any of them. What are we discussing here?”
Congress sources have said Dr Singh’s family wanted the immersion of ashes to be a strictly personal affair and that’s why top leaders stayed away. Countering this, Mr Puri said, “We are not making an issue of it, but even if the family wants it to be purely personal affair, he is a departed Prime Minister. When you see pictures of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s funeral procession, Prime Minister (Modi) walked the entire route, Home Minister Amit Shah did, Piyush (Goyal) walked. The whole issue comes down to how much the party wants to do. If the family does not want it, the party can’t make an issue out of this. They are always looking to point a finger at something that was not done, everything was done.”
Earlier, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said the state funeral of Dr Singh was a “shocking display of disrespect and mismanagement”. In a point-by-point criticism, he said, “No news agencies except DD were allowed; DD focused on Modi & Shah, barely covering Dr. Manmohan Singh’s family. Only 3 chairs were kept in the front row for Dr. Singh’s family. Congress leaders had to insist on seats for his daughters and 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,” Mr Khera said.
“Public was kept out, left watching from outside the venue. 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. Dr Singh’s grandchildren performing last rites had to jostle for space to reach the pyre. Diplomats were seated elsewhere and were not visible. Shockingly, the PM did not stand when the King of Bhutan stood. The entire funeral area was cramped and poorly organized, leaving no space for many participants in the procession,” Mr Khera added.
“This disgraceful treatment of a towering statesman exposes the government’s priorities and lack of respect for democratic values. Dr. Singh deserved dignity, not this shameful spectacle,” he said.
In his rebuttal to the charge that Nigambodh Ghat was not a fitting place for Dr Singh’s cremation, Mr Puri referred to heavy rain in the national capital on Friday. “It was pouring, if you had taken any vacant land, you would first have to drain it. Whereas Nigambodh Ghat in terms of size is a VIP ghat, it has the size. Somebody told me Lodhi, Lodhi is too small,” he said.
