Congress Slammed For Past Neglect Of Statesmen Amid Manmohan Singh Memorial Proposal

Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of the former President late Pranab Mukherjee, has slammed Congress on its hypocrisy for seeking a separate memorial for former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday night due to age-related ailments at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

In a statement on X, she said that when her father and the former Indian President died in August 2020, the Congress leadership did not even bother to convene a condolence meeting by the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

She even accused the Congress leadership of misleading her on this issue during that time.

Sharmistha revealed that a senior Congress leader had informed her that such meetings were not customary for Indian Presidents.

Calling this reasoning "utter rubbish," Sharmistha stated that her father’s diaries revealed that a CWC meeting was convened after the death of former President K R Narayanan, and the condolence message was personally drafted by Pranab Mukherjee.

Sharmishtha Mukherjee referred to a post by BJP's CR Kesavan, who pointed out instances where Congress sidelined prominent statesmen within the party just because they were not members of the "Gandhi" family.

"When baba passed away, Congress didnt even bother 2 call CWC 4 condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it’s not done 4 Presidents. Thats utter rubbish as I learned later from baba’s diaries that on KR Narayanan’s death, CWC was called & condolence msg was drafted by baba only (sic)," Sharmishtha said.

The controversy also brought attention to a chapter in the book The Accidental Prime Minister by Sanjaya Baru, who served as Manmohan Singh’s media advisor from 2004 to 2009.

Baru noted in the book that the Congress-led UPA government never built a memorial in Delhi for former Prime Minister late PV Narasimha Rao, who passed away in 2004.

Baru in his book had also claimed that Congress did not even want Rao's cremation to happen in New Delhi but rather in his native place of Hyderabad.

However, Sharmishtha clarified that she was not against the idea of a separate memorial for Manmohan Singh.

"A memorial for Dr. Singh is a great idea. He deserves it & also Bharat Ratna which baba as President wanted 2 confer on him; but that didn’t happen perhaps due 2 reasons which don’t need to be spelled out," she said in a separate post.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting that Singh's last rites be conducted at a final resting place that would also house a memorial, in line with the tradition of honouring statesmen with dedicated memorials.

On Friday (27 December), the Centre said that it will allocate space for the memorial.

"Immediately after the Cabinet meeting, HM Shri Amit Shah communicated to Congress President Shri Kharge and the family of Late Dr Manmohan Singh that the Government will allocate space for the memorial. In the meanwhile cremation and other formalities can happen because a trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated to it," the government said in a statement.

Also Read: Congress Seeks Separate Memorial Site For Former PM Manmohan Singh In Delhi, Faces Criticism For Disrespecting Narasimha Rao