New Delhi [India], December 28 : Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday stated that the Home Ministry is deciding on dedicating a memorial to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away on December 26.
"... We have lost a great person. The Home Ministry is deciding on dedicating a memorial to him and we all pay our respects to him from our party," the Union Minister told ANI.
"The BJP's statement that he was not respected as much as he deserved is factual," Athawale added.
After the Cabinet meeting on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah communicated to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the family of the late Manmohan Singh that the Government will allocate space for the memorial.
Earlier in the day, BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan slammed the Congress, accusing it of "unsuccessfully trying to politicise the demise of Dr Manmohan Singh."
"The Congress is unsuccessfully trying to politicise the demise of Dr Manmohan Singh. They should remember the deadly 1984 riots in which our Sikh brothers and sisters were massacred under their watch," Kesavan told ANI.
"A former media adviser to Manmohan Singh claimed in his book that the Congress party made him convey to Narasimha Rao's family that his cremation should not take place in Delhi and instead should be in Hyderabad... It was PM Narendra Modi in 2015 who ensured and honoured Narasimha Rao with a memorial in Delhi and conferred the Bharat Ratna to him," Kesavan said.
Congress had demanded a funeral in a place where a memorial to Singh could be built. However, the Centre said land for a memorial would be earmarked in the next few days. But it would not be the place where the funeral took place. The Congress called it a "deliberate insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister of India."
"Earlier, i the Congress President had written to the Prime Minister, suggesting that the cremation of the former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, take place at a location where a memorial could be built to honour his legacy. The people of our country are simply unable to understand why the Government of India could not find a location for his cremation and memorial that is befitting of his global stature, the record of outstanding achievements, and exemplary service to the nation for decades. This is nothing but a deliberate insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh," Jairam Ramesh posted on X on Friday.
Manmohan Singh was accorded a state funeral with full military honours at the Nigam Bodh Ghat, a public cremation ground in north Delhi, on Saturday.