BJP leaders hit back at Congress claims on funeral protocol for Manmohan Singh

Three days after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s death, the political tussle over the protocol followed at his funeral continued on Sunday, with Union ministers hitting out at the Congress for engaging in “shameful politics” over the demise of the former PM.

Responding to allegations by the Congress that the government “insulted” Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hardeep Singh Puri said that “those who are manufacturing a parallel narrative with regard to the last rites of Sdr Dr Manmohan Singh Ji are doing a huge disservice to his memory and the ethos he embodied as a human being”.

“With his body draped in the Tricolour, the late former Prime Minister was accorded full state & military honours, state funeral and a befitting 21-gun salute. A seven-day national mourning has been declared and flags will fly at half mast. Members of the Sikh Sangat were present in full force during the rituals. Dr Manmohan Singh Ji will forever remain an inspirational leader for us. We will cherish his memories and values. Those members of the Congress party who are vitiating the poise and dignity of the sombre moment with controversies and falsehoods should refrain and introspect,” Puri said.

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Congress should have respected the former PM when he was alive.

“The shameful politics being done by the Congress party and its leaders over the sad demise of the respected former Prime Minister of the country, Dr Manmohan Singh, is extremely unfortunate and condemnable. The whole country knows very well that the Congress never respected Manmohan Singh ji while he was alive. The Congress party has always insulted great personalities like Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, former Prime Minister Shri PV Narasimha Rao, President Pranab Mukherjee and the revered Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” Scindia said.

The Congress criticised the central government on Saturday for what it described as a “shocking display of disrespect and mismanagement” at the funeral. The party highlighted the “poorly organised” and “cramped” conditions at the funeral site, which, it said, left many participants with no space in the procession.

“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,” Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wrote on X (formerly Twitter), emphasising the party’s demand for the highest respect to the former PM and a memorial. “The government should have shown respect to this great son of the country and his proud community,” Gandhi said.

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw lashed out at the Congress on Saturday and said in a series of tweets that “Dr Manmohan Singh Ji was reduced to a proxy PM. Real power was wielded by Mrs Gandhi through the National Advisory Council, undermining our constitution. The ultimate insult came in 2013, when Rahul Gandhi publicly tore up an ordinance approved by the Cabinet chaired by Dr Singh as Prime Minister of India. Height of hypocrisy indeed. Congress failed to honour former President Pranab Mukherjee Ji after his death. Congress even downplayed his Bharat Ratna. Congress’s hypocrisy stands exposed as they politicise Dr Manmohan Singh Ji’s last journey. Congress repeatedly sidelined him during his tenure.”

Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya on Sunday offered a point-by-point rebuttal to the charges made by Congress media department head Pawan Khera.

While Khera alleged that no news agencies except DD was allowed and the coverage focused on PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, Malviya said that, “MoD has no role in coverage of functions. In the past as well, only DD has done the coverage. Restriction on entry is by security agencies. National functions are also covered by DD only.”

Khera had said that only three chairs were kept in the front row for Singh’s family and Congress leaders had to insist on seats for his daughters and other family members.

Malviya said the “number of seats in the front row was kept at a maximum, as per the available space. Five seats were earmarked for family members in the first row. These were occupied by Mrs Manmohan Singh and her three daughters. The balance 20 seats were for constitutional authorities who were to lay a wreath. These included the President of India, the King of Bhutan, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, leaders of the Opposition and service chiefs, among others.”

While the Congress alleged that the PM and ministers did not stand up when the national flag was handed to the widow of the late Prime Minister or during the gun salute, Malviya said the “state funeral was done with full military honours. There was no deviation in the process. The family was given inadequate space around the pyre due to soldiers occupying one side.”

Meanwhile, BJP MP Anurag Thakur termed the controversy unfortunate, saying: “Dr Manmohan Singh belonged to an ordinary family, and he became RBI governor and the chief economic adviser because of his hard work. He also served as the finance minister and the prime minister. I was an MP when he was the prime minister of the country. It is unfortunate that the Congress is doing politics over the death of Dr Manmohan Singh. Has the Nehru-Gandhi family stooped this low that they are doing politics over his death?”