Chorus for Bharat Ratna for Manmohan Singh grows in Congress as Telangana House passes resolution

Congress national spokesperson Subharansh Kumar Rai said the Telangana Assembly has demanded the Bharat Ratna for a person who championed causes like the Right to Education, Right to Information, MNREGA and others. “It is only fitting that the country’s highest honour is bestowed upon him,” he said.

Apart from the resolution, the ruling and Opposition parties of Telangana – the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and BJP – briefly united in a day-long special session of the Assembly and agreed to set up a statue of the former PM at a prominent location in Hyderabad to honour him.

The resolution comes just days after the BJP levelled allegations that Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had “in 2013 not responded to a recommendation by former President Pranab Mukherjee for conferring the award” on Singh.

The BJP questioned the Revanth Reddy-led Telangana government’s move, with party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla Telling The Indian Express, “Instead of passing resolutions in the Assembly, Reddy should ask Sonia Gandhi, as disclosed by Sharmishtha Mukherjeeji, why was a similar proposal floated by Pranab and sent to (Singh’s principal secretary) Pulok Chatterjee not taken forward in a proper manner? Why was the Bharat Ratna not conferred upon the first Sikh PM of India? It only shows that the (Gandhi) family is insecure of any non-Nehru-Gandhi PM.”

Another BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that the Congress was “demonstrating commitment to Dr Singh with an eye on Sikh votes”. The leader further added that the move would have no political impact as the Centre had already accepted the demand to set up a memorial for Singh.

Singh passed away last week at the age of 92 and was cremated with full state honours at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday in the presence of several dignitaries from across the country and abroad.

Rai dismissed the allegation regarding the allegation of denying Singh the Bharat Ratna 2013, calling it “absolute lies” and asking the BJP to make public its documentary proof of the claim.

Regarding the Telangana resolution, some senior Congress leaders said it was the prerogative of state legislatures to pass resolutions but no communication on it has been given from the party’s central leadership. “If some states are doing it, we welcome it but we have not told them to do anything like this,” a senior Congress leader said.

On the other hand, the war of words between the Congress and the BJP over Singh’s funeral and a memorial site continued on Tuesday after the ruling party slammed the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi “for flying abroad to ring in the new year” amid the seven-day mourning period.

Dismissing the allegations made over the past two days, Congress Whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore termed the BJP’s remarks as “take-a-diversion politics”. “The way Modi denied Dr Saheb space for cremation on the banks of the Yamuna and how his ministers cornered his family is shameful. If Gandhi travels privately, why does it bother you?” he asked on Monday. On Tuesday, Tiwari claimed Gandhi’s was a pre-planned visit and that “crores of people had seen tears in his eyes” after Singh passed away.