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Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about exploring the possibility of building a memorial to Manmohan Singh at the same site where the last rites would be held, the party said today.
Manmohan Singh, who died of age-related medical issues at 92, was prime minister for two terms in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2004 to 2014. He had been in poor health for the last few months.
"Apropos our telephonic conversation today morning, wherein I made a request to hold Dr Manmohan Singh's last rites, which will take place tomorrow i.e. 28th December 2024, at his final resting place that would be a sacrosanct venue for memorial of the great son of India," Mr Kharge said in the letter, which was posted by the Congress on X.
"This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former prime ministers at the very place of their funerals," the Congress chief said.
Mr Kharge said "the nation today reaps the benefits" of decisions taken by Manmohan Singh on improving the country's economic condition.
"When the nation was in the throes of grave economic crisis, it was Dr Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister, who took India out of the crisis and also led the country towards economic prosperity and stability... Coming from a humble background and having suffered the pains and sufferings of the Partition, it is through his sheer grit and determination that he rose to become one of the leading statesmen of the world," Mr Kharge said.
आज कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge ने प्रधानमंत्री जी और गृह मंत्री से फ़ोन पर बात करके व एक पत्र लिख कर भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस की ओर से पुरज़ोर अनुरोध किया कि भारत के सपूत सरदार मनमोहन सिंह जी का अंतिम संस्कार व स्मारक स्थापित करना ही उनको सच्ची श्रद्धांजलि होगी। pic.twitter.com/pNxh5txf0b
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2024
"In view of the foregoing, I hope and trust that befitting the stature of Dr Manmohan Singh, the above request to have the funeral of Dr Manmohan Singh at a place where his memorial can be built, will be acceded," the Congress chief said in the letter to PM Modi.
The last rites will be performed at the Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi tomorrow.
Apart from being an economist, Manmohan Singh served as Reserve Bank of India governor from 1982 to 1985.
In the five years he spent between 1991 and 1996 as Union Finance Minister, his role in ushering in a comprehensive policy of economic reforms is recognised worldwide. In the popular view of those years in India, that period is inextricably associated with the persona of Manmohan Singh.
His government also introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which later came to be known as MGNREGA.
The Right to Information Act (RTI) was passed in 2005 under his government, which made the transparency of information between the government and the public better. He retired from the Rajya Sabha earlier this year after serving for 33 years.