Centre begins land identification process for ex-PM Manmohan Singh's memorial

The Centre has started the process of identifying the site for setting up a memorial to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away last Thursday.

According to a PTI report, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) officials visited sites around the Sanjay Gandhi memorial in the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal and identified some spots where a memorial could come up.

The government has started the process of identifying a site for setting up a memorial to former prime minister Manmohan Singh and is in touch with his family to finalise the location.

The government is in touch with Singh's family and has discussed three or four options for the memorial's location, the PTI report quoting sources added.

No site had been finalised yet and everything would be done in consultation with the former prime minister's family. The Centre will set up a trust before allotting the selected land to it for the memorial.

The government has already conveyed its willingness to set up a memorial to the former prime minister's family, the report added.

BJP-Cong war of words over Manmohan Singh funeral

A war of words had erupted with the Congress accusing BJP of insulting Manmohan Singh by holding his last rites at Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat.

“The great son of 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,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi posted on X.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too hit out at the Centre, saying,"By not providing an adequate place for the cremation of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Government has not done justice to the dignity of the post of former Prime Minister, the personality of Manmohan Singh, his legacy and the self-respecting Sikh community."

The BJP hit back at Congress, accusing it of playing politics over Manmohan Singh.

Union minister and BJP chief JP Nadda said,"It's very unfortunate that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and incumbent Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are not refraining from playing politics even over the former prime minister's sad demise."

"No amount of condemnation is enough for such cheap thinking of the Congress. The Congress, which never gave real respect to Manmohan Singh when he was alive, is now playing politics in the name of his respect," he added.

(With PTI inputs)