You can say that the level of politics has fallen so much that politics is being done even on the death of a great personality. But perhaps you are forgetting that this is what politics is all about. Every move of a politician is a move of chess. At present, after the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, there is a lot of politics of ‘Tu Daal, Main Paat’ between Congress and BJP in the name of building his cremation site and his memorial. But finally the NDA government at the Center was seen on the back foot despite doing everything. At the time of Dr. Singh’s funeral at Nigambodh Ghat, President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh etc. tried to convey the message that Manmohan Singh’s personality was beyond politics. Whom all the people of India respect. But despite doing all this, instead of Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress went ahead in grabbing public sympathy for itself by creating ruckus on the demand of building a memorial. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party does not reveal its cards so quickly. Therefore, it would be foolish to say anything like going on the back foot on this issue.
BJP should not capture Manmohan like Narasimha Rao and Pranab Mukherjee.
In fact, the way Congress was aggressive towards Manmohan Singh, there must have been some kind of fear in the party. If Congress had shown even a little carelessness, then there was a danger of Manmohan Singh becoming its own, just as BJP made Narasimha Rao and Pranab Mukherjee its own. The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi was following Manmohan along with his cabinet colleagues in Manmohan’s funeral procession was generally not necessary. It was enough for the PM to offer a floral tribute to the mortal remains of Dr. Singh.
But the kind of sentiments shown by BJP were exactly like that of bringing another Congress leader into their fold after his death. The way the party neglected Congress leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narasimha Rao, Pranab Mukherjee has resulted in the BJP being able to make them its own. BJP wanted to show that only the leaders of Gandhi family are asked in Congress.
The kind of statements given by Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee was an example of Congress not giving enough importance to non-Gandhi leaders. Sharmistha Mukherjee has written on social media that when Baba passed away, the Congress Party did not even call a working committee meeting to express condolences. A senior leader told me that this does not happen for presidents.
She further writes that this argument is complete nonsense, because as I later came to know from Baba’s diary, after the death of KR Narayanan, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee was called and his condolence message was prepared by Baba himself.
Meanwhile, the statement of Narasimha Rao’s brother also came that after the death of former PM Narasimha Rao, no place was given for his funeral in Delhi. Even the gates of the Congress headquarters were not opened during his funeral procession. Obviously, Congress did not make such a mistake for Manmohan Singh. Somewhere behind this, BJP was afraid that Manmohan too might join the BJP camp after his death. However, BJP can still overtake Congress by announcing Manmohan Singh’s memorial and Bharat Ratna.
Why is BJP looking very generous towards Manmohan Singh?
Now the question arises that what is the reason that Bharatiya Janata Party is looking so generous towards Manmohan Singh. It is clear that Manmohan Singh has been a Congress leader and along with that he has given many harsh statements against the Modi government. Still, the gesture shown by Modi government for Manmohan is worth considering. On Friday, the Home Ministry had said in a press release that it had received a request from the Congress President to allot space for the memorial of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It said that immediately after the cabinet meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah had told the Congress President and the former Prime Minister’s family that the government would provide space for the memorial. In the meantime, his last rites and other rituals can be completed as a trust has to be formed and space allotted for the memorial.
Not only this, at the time of the funeral, the Prime Minister along with special ministers of the Government of India, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh etc. reached the cremation venue Nigam Bodhi Ghat. The government is repeatedly saying that it will soon allot land for Manmohan Singh’s memorial.
In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party are not able to write the script of Punjab victory even after trying hard. Despite all efforts, the party is not able to rise above the fourth position there. Similarly, assembly elections are about to be held in Delhi. Many seats of Delhi Assembly are Sikh dominated. In Delhi, about 12 percent of them belong to the Sikh community. With this, the Sikh community becomes very important in many seats of Delhi. Sikhs become the basis of victory and defeat on about 9 seats. The influence of Sikhs is more in seats like Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri, Moti Nagar, Rajendra Nagar and Greater Kailash. At present, Aam Aadmi Party holds eight out of nine seats. After leaving Akali Dal, BJP is worried that its votes might go with Congress or Aam Aadmi Party in this year’s assembly elections.
How the controversy started, the entire opposition appeared united for Manmohan’s memorial.
Even before a decision had been taken as to where the last rites of Dr. Manmohan Singh would be held, the Congress started its aggressive game. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the people of the country are not able to understand why the government is not able to find a place for his funeral and memorial. Statements from many Congress leaders started coming in demanding space for the memorial. The government decided that the funeral of the former PM would be done at Nigam Bodhi Ghat. After this, the attacks of Congress became even more intense.
Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot wrote, the NDA government has created unnecessary controversy regarding the cremation and construction of a memorial for a great personality like Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji. The Government of India is conducting the last rites of the personality whom the world is honoring at Nigam Bodh Ghat instead of any special place.
It was surprising when Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal also expressed his displeasure with the Modi government on the issue of Manmohan Singh’s memorial. He wrote in a post on X, Shocking and unbelievable! The family of Dr. Manmohan Singh had requested that the last rites of this distinguished and outstanding leader be performed at a place where a historical memorial could be built. The central government rejected this request. This is extremely condemnable…
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati attacked the government. Mayawati has written on social media