Navjot Sidhu writes to President Murmu for Manmohan Singh memorial

Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to direct the Centre to raise a memorial for former prime minister Manmohan Singh at the Raj Ghat complex.

Sidhu’s letter comes a day after the Congress accused the Centre of insulting Manmohan Singh, the country’s first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could have become his memorial.

The opposition party had written to the Centre for identifying a designated place for Singh’s last rites. The Centre responded by saying a decision to set up a memorial has already been taken and a trust would be formed to identify the location soon.

Manmohan Singh died on December 26. He was cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat on December 28.

BJP president J P Nadda has also responded to the Congress’ accusations, saying the Centre has decided to allocate space for Manmohan Singh’s memorial and informed his family about it. He accused the Congress of indulging in “cheap politics” over the former prime minister’s cremation.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had said that the BJP-led Centre had “totally insulted” Manmohan Singh by performing his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat.