Manmohan Singh funeral row: Congress alleges mismanagement, BJP retorts

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh's ashes immersed at Asth Ghat at Majnu ka Tila in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: PTI

New Delhi (TIP)- The row over former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s state funeral spilled into Sunday, December 29, with BJP accusing the Congress of levelling “baseless allegations” of disrespect and mismanagement against the Centre. The opposition party had called the government’s arrangements for Singh’s state funeral a “shocking display” of disrespect and mismanagement.
Hitting back, BJP asked the Congress to stop “politicising” the former prime minister’s death by levelling “baseless allegations” and accord him the dignity he deserved.
On Saturday, the Congress’ media and publicity department chief Pawan Khera levelled a host of allegations against the Centre on the arrangements for Singh’s state funeral at Nigambodh Ghat, saying it was “a shocking display of disrespect and mismanagement”.
“No news agencies except DD (Doordarshan) was allowed; DD focused on Modi and Shah, barely covering Dr Manmohan Singh’s family. Only three chairs were kept in the front row for Dr Singh’s family. Congress leaders had to insist on seats for his daughters and other family members,” he had said in a post on X.
“The Prime Minister and ministers did not stand up when the national flag was handed to the widow of the late prime minister or during the gun salute. The family was given inadequate space around the pyre due to soldiers occupying one side. The public was kept out, left watching from outside the venue,” he had added.
Khera had also alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s motorcade disrupted the funeral procession, leaving cars belonging to Singh’s family members stuck outside.
The gate was closed and the family members needed to be located and brought back in, he had claimed.
“Dr Singh’s grandchildren performing the last rites had to jostle for space to reach the pyre. Diplomats were seated elsewhere and were not visible. Shockingly, the Prime Minister did not stand when the king of Bhutan stood,” Khera had said.
In a point-by-point rebuttal to Khera’s charges, BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya on Sunday accused the Congress of politicising the former prime minister’s death.
“It’s a shame that the Congress continues to politicise former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh death,” he said.
On Khera’s charge that no news agencies except DD was allowed in to cover the event, Malviya said, “MoD (Defence Ministry) has no role in the coverage of functions. In the past as well, only DD has done the coverage. The restriction on entry is by security agencies. National functions are also covered by DD only.” “Seating at the funeral site is arranged by CPWD (Central Public Works Department) in consultation with the Delhi Police. The number of seats in the front row was kept at a maximum, as per the available space. Five seats were earmarked for family members in the first row. These were occupied by Mrs Manmohan Singh and her three daughters,” he said.
The remaining 20 seats were for constitutional authorities who were to lay a wreath, he added.
“These included the President of India, the king of Bhutan, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, leaders of the opposition and service chiefs, among others,” he said.
“No other person was allotted a front-row seat. In the second row, eight seats were earmarked for family members. In the next two rows, the enclosure was earmarked for family members,” he added.
On Khera’s charge that Modi and the Union ministers did not stand up when the national flag was handed to Singh’s widow or during the gun salute, Malviya said the state funeral was done with “full military honours”.
“There was no deviation in the process,” he added.
Reacting to the charge that Singh’s family was given inadequate space around the pyre, Malviya said the site for the funeral was communicated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
“Only ceremonial personnel were there around the pyre. The whole space was available for family and priests. No other officials occupied that area,” he added.

43 Comments

  1. An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I think that you need
    to publish more about this issue, it may not be a taboo matter but typically
    folks don’t discuss these issues. To the next!

    All the best!!

  2. My partner and I stumbled over here different web address and thought I should check things out.
    I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to finding
    out about your web page for a second time.

  3. I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but great topic.
    I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding
    more. Thanks for great information I was looking for this information for my mission.

  4. My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the
    expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about
    a year and am nervous about switching to another platform.
    I have heard fantastic things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress
    content into it? Any kind of help would be really appreciated!

  5. I’m curious to find out what blog platform you have been utilizing?

    I’m experiencing some small security issues with my latest website and I would like to find something more risk-free.
    Do you have any recommendations?

  6. Hello there I am so excited I found your webpage, I really found
    you by mistake, while I was browsing on Google for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and
    would just like to say kudos for a incredible post and a all
    round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
    time to read through it all at the minute but
    I have bookmarked it and also added in your
    RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the excellent work.

  7. The allegations made by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera are deeply concerning. The specific claims about only three chairs for the family, the disruption caused by a minister’s motorcade, and the lack of standing protocol during the gun salute, if true, show a shocking lack of respect for a former Prime Minister’s final rites. Such a state funeral should be above political point-scoring and managed with the utmost dignity.

  8. First of all I would like to say superb blog! I had a quick question in which I’d
    like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to know
    how you center yourself and clear your mind before writing.
    I’ve had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out there.
    I truly do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost just
    trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips?

    Thanks!

  9. Azzahrah Putri Rent Car adalah perusahaan rental mobil makassar yang berkomitmen memberikan pengalaman sewa mobil makassar terbaik, memenuhi semua kebutuhan perjalanan Anda dengan layanan yang berkualitas dan profesional. Fokus kami adalah memastikan kenyamanan dan kepuasan pelanggan, menjadikan kami mitra perjalanan yang dapat diandalkan.

  10. It’s truly disheartening to see political disputes arise during the final farewell to a respected former Prime Minister like Dr. Manmohan Singh. The allegations about the family having inadequate space around the pyre and the grandchildren having to jostle for space are particularly saddening. Regardless of political differences, such moments should be solely about dignity and respect for a departed leader and his grieving family.

  11. Ijust wrote about how Jane ended up using Paybis to transfer her money from her bank into crypto and then straight into her trading account, and honestly, her whole story turned out way more fun than anyone thought.

    Jane isn’t your regular crypto newbie. Fun fact:
    she collects tiny vintage globes and has exactly 27 of them lined up behind her desk.
    Another random thing is that she can solve a Rubik’s cube in under 40 seconds.

    So when she discovered Paybis, she approached it with the same energy — fast, efficient, and determined.

    As she told me, she wanted a platform that wouldn’t “fight her back,” because her bank is already stressful enough.

    Paybis ended up being perfect: super user-friendly onboarding, easy deposit, and she was able to convert her bank funds into crypto in literally minutes.
    She made a joke that it was easier than ordering sushi.

    Once the crypto hit her wallet, she jumped straight into her trading platform — everything happening
    instantly. And because she’s Jane, she turned it into a personal speed-challenge.
    She timed every step, and of course, she made a whole spreadsheet about it.
    Fun fact: Jane has 38 spreadsheets for her hobbies.

    What surprised her most was how Paybis didn’t overwhelm her with complicated
    menus. She likes things simple — after all, she once returned a coffee machine because it had “too many buttons.” So the clean process from bank → crypto → trading felt like a win.

    She casually dropped that anyone wanting to try the same flow should check the
    link inside this comment, but she didn’t want to make a
    big deal of it. Just said it might be helpful.

    To sum it up, Jane’s whole experience using Paybis was fast, surprisingly fun,
    and very “Jane-style” — structured, quirky, and
    full of little experiments.

    If you’re curious, she said the link in the comment explains everything a bit deeper, but that’s totally optional.

  12. Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and
    say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything.

    Do you have any tips and hints for beginner blog writers?
    I’d certainly appreciate it.

  13. I like the helpful information you provide in your
    articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently.
    I’m quite certain I’ll learn many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

  14. I’ve been surfing on-line greater than three hours these days, but I by no means found any fascinating article like yours.
    It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all
    website owners and bloggers made good content as you did,
    the web can be much more useful than ever before.

  15. Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this
    website before but after checking through some of the
    post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted
    I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back often!

  16. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
    I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a
    famous blogger if you aren’t already ;) Cheers!

  17. Hey! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with
    us so I came to look it over. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this
    to my followers! Wonderful blog and great style and design.

  18. Hello! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask.
    Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing
    a blog article or vice-versa? My blog addresses a lot of the same topics as yours
    and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other.
    If you’re interested feel free to shoot me an email.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by
    the way!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.