New Delhi, Dec 27 Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging that the last rites of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh be conducted at a location where a memorial can be established.
Kharge's letter followed a telephonic conversation with PM Modi, during which he discussed the possibility of setting up a memorial for Dr. Singh, a two-term Prime Minister deeply revered by the people of India.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, who passed away at 92 due to age-related health issues, served as the Prime Minister for two terms during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2004 to 2014. He had been in poor health in recent 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," Kharge said in a letter shared 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 president added.
Kharge said Dr. Manmohan Singh holds a highly revered place in the psyche of the country and the people of this nation, and his contributions and achievements were phenomenal.
The Congress chief further wrote: "Dr Singh's erudition on economic and fiscal matters came from his vast experience as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, chief economic advisor to the government of India and in various other capacities in several organisations, and the respect and regard that world leaders had for him bears testimony to this fact."
Kharge said: "Dr. Singh's wise counsel, leadership and contribution in mitigating the global economic financial crisis is well-acknowledged. He also recalled President Obama’s words when as the US president, he mentioned that 'whenever the Indian prime minister speaks, the whole world listens to him'.
"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."
"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," Kharge concluded in his letter to PM Modi.
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