Rahul Gandhi says Modi govt ‘completely insulted’ late PM Manmohan Singh, questions last rites at Nigambodh Ghat

India bid adieu to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday with a cremation ceremony at the Nigambodh Ghat. The site of his last rites have however become a topic of heated debate — with Congress leaders accusing the Narendra Modi government of ‘insulting’ the late leader. Members of the party had repeatedly called for the ceremony to be performed at a place where a memorial could be built.

“Manmohan Singh ji has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites today at the Nigambodh Ghat…Till date, respecting the dignity of all former Prime Ministers, their last rites were performed at authorized burial sites so that every person could have the last darshan and pay homage without any inconvenience,” Rahul Gandhi contended in a lengthy social media post.

Several prominent members of the Congress have accused the ruling BJP government of "deliberately insulting" the former PM by refusing to designate a place for his funeral and memorial. Meanwhile the Centre said that it had already decided to set up a memorial for Singh and efforts were underway to find a suitable place.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had written to PM Modi early on Saturday morning — suggesting that the cremation take place at a location where a memorial could be built to honour his legacy. He also shared a strongly worded post on X dubbing it a “deliberate insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister of India”.

The Modi government had held a Cabinet meeting on Friday following the death of Manmohan Singh and decided to allocate space for a memorial. However the process is likely to take some time as a trust has to be formed and space allocated accordingly. The decision was also conveyed to the Congress and Singh's family by Home Minister Amit Shah.

The former PM was eventually accorded a state funeral with full military honours at the Nigambodh Ghat — a public cremation ground in north Delhi — on Saturday afternoon.

“There is a procedure to build a memorial but cremation is a process that can't wait... It was a direct communication that our party had extended,” reminded BJP MP Sambit Patra.

He also rebuked the Congress for “doing politics” on a day of grief and deemed their comments "absurd". Patra insisted that it was the Congress which had 'damaged the dignity of former PM Manmohan Singh' while in office.

(With inputs from agencies)