Manmohan Singh funeral: Congress says party leaders did not accompany his family out of deference to their privacy

Dr Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday at the age of 92. He was cremated with full state honours at Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday in the presence of several dignitaries from the country and abroad.

In a statement, Congress leader and chairman for media and publicity department Pawan Khera said, “Senior Congress leaders did not accompany the family to gather and immerse the ashes of Manmohan Singh out of our deference to the privacy of the family.”

He said that “after the cremation of the former PM, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the family at their residence”.

“After discussing with them, it was felt that since the family did not get any privacy at the time of the cremation and some extended family members could not reach the pyre site, it would be appropriate to give them some privacy for the Phool Chunana and the immersion of the ashes which is an emotionally painful and difficult ceremony for close family members,” said Khera.

The Congress leader said on Sunday that “the focus was on Prime Minister Narendra Modi” during the funeral. The party also alleged that Dr Singh’s family members were not accommodated in the front row during the cremation and that the “Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sitting when the tricolour was being handed over to the former PM’s wife”.

“Why couldn’t he stand up,” Khera asked.

The BJP hit back at the Congress, with the IT department head Amit Malviya replying to Khera’s allegations and accusing the Congress of politicising the former prime minister’s death.

In a post with a “point wise demolition of baseless allegations made by the Congress”, Malviya said, “It’s a shame that the Congress continues to politicise former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh death.”