The BJP president JP Nadda accused said the Congress party of indulging in cheap politics over the former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s memorial.
He lamented that the Congress was spreading false information despite the fact that the government had shortlisted a space for Singh’s memorial and had also informed his family about it.
The BJP chief’s reaction came after the Congress accused the Centre of insulting Singh, the country’s first Sikh prime minister, by performing his last rites at Nigam Bodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could be turned into his memorial.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the BJP-led Centre had totally insulted Singh, a great son of Mother India and the first prime minister from the Sikh community, by performing his last rites at Nigambodh Ghat.
Reacting sharply, Nadda said, “It’s very unfortunate that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and incumbent Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are not refraining from playing politics even over the former prime minister’s sad demise.”
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too slammed the government: “By not providing an adequate place for the cremation of Dr Manmohan Singh, the government has not done justice to the dignity of the post of a former Prime Minister, the personality of Dr Singh, his legacy and the self-respecting Sikh community.”
Nadda advised Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and other Congress leaders that they should refrain from indulging in such cheap politics. He alleged that the Congress “tarnished and degraded” the position of the prime minister by placing Sonia Gandhi as “super prime minister” over Singh.
“Not just this. The way Rahul Gandhi insulted Manmohan Singh by tearing an ordinance, there is no other example of this,” he added. “The same Congress is today playing politics over the death of Manmohan Singh,” the BJP chief said, alleging that the Gandhi family had not given respect to anyone except itself.
He alleged that Sonia Gandhi had rejected the request for setting up a monument to PM Narasimha Rao. “His (Rao’s) body was not even given a place in the Congress office. The Congress did not want his last rites to be held in Delhi. His funeral was held in Hyderabad. It was Modi who established the memorial to Rao in 2015 and honoured him with the Bharat Ratna,” Nadda added.
He recalled that when Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee died, the Congress Working Committee did not even bother to call a condolence meeting. Lamenting that the Congress has only built memorials for its family members, the BJP chief said and asked the party to learn from Modi the true meaning of giving respect.