Manmohan Singh Funeral Controversy; Congress BJP Rahul Gandhi PM Modi Congress said – It is meaningless to expect greatness from BJP: After our pressure, the central government agreed to build a memorial of Manmohan Singh.

Congress leader Pawan Kheda Regarding arrangements for the funeral of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on saturday Targeted the government. He said that he was surprised to see the chaos and disrespect from the government in the state funeral of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Kheda lodged 9 points of objections related to the last rites, which were answered by BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya on Sunday.

1. Doordarshan showed more of Modi: No news agency was allowed except Doordarshan. DD focused on Modi and Shah, showed very little of Dr Singh’s family.​

Amit Malviya: The Defense Ministry has no role in the coverage. Earlier also only DD has done the coverage. National celebrations are also covered only by DD. Security agencies imposed restrictions on entry of other agencies.

2. No chair for Dr. Singh’s family: Only 3 chairs were kept in the front row for Dr. Singh’s family. Other Congress leaders present there arranged seats for Dr. Singh’s daughters and other members of his family.

Amit Malviya: The seating arrangements at the funeral site have been made by CPWD in consultation with Delhi Police. As per the available space, the number of seats in the front row was kept maximum. The front row included the President of India, the King of Bhutan, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition and service chiefs. No other person was allotted a front row seat. 8 seats were set aside for family members in the second row. The next two rows, (rows 3 and 4) were reserved for family members.

Dr. Manmohan Singh’s wife and his three daughters were sitting next to Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi at Nigambodh Ghat. The rest of Dr. Singh’s family was standing behind.

3. Modi did not stand in the guard of honour: When the national flag was handed over to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s wife and when Dr. Singh was given a guard of honour. Then Prime Minister Modi and other ministers did not even consider it right to stand up. They all remained sitting.

Amit Malviya: The state funeral was conducted with full military honours. No changes were made to the procedure.

In the feed of Doordarshan, many people including Modi and Amit Shah were seen sitting while folding the tricolor. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has shared the video of the guard of honour. Shah and Rajnath Singh were standing in it. No picture of Modi has surfaced at the time of Guard of Honour.

4. Did not give space to family: Adequate space was not given to the family around the funeral pyre of Dr. Manmohan Singh, because on one side only the soldiers had occupied the place.

Amit Malviya: Only those people who were needed were present around the pyre. The entire space was available for family members and priests. No one took possession there.

Soldiers were deployed on one side in front of Manmohan Singh’s funeral pyre at Nigambodh Ghat. He was given a place in front of the pyre for the 21 gun salute. Singh’s family was standing in front of the pyre. Rahul was also present.

5. Common people were prevented: Common people could not see the last rites of Dr. Singh closely. They were stopped from entering Nigambodh Ghat. They were forced to watch the program from outside.

Amit Malviya: Many people were present at Nigambodh Ghat. There was a lot of crowd. Ban imposed due to security reasons.

6. Shah’s convoy disrupted the funeral procession: Amit Shah’s convoy disrupted the funeral procession of Dr. Manmohan Singh. Due to this, his family’s vehicles remained outside the ghat and the gate was closed. After this the family members had to be found and brought back inside.

Amit Malviya: The entire road arrangement was the responsibility of the traffic police while bringing the mortal remains of Dr. Manmohan Singh to the ghat. Information about the cars of the former Prime Minister’s family was already sought. They were issued passes for parking. There were no hindrances in the funeral procession.

Manmohan Singh’s funeral procession and Amit Shah’s convoy reached Nigambodh Ghat almost at the same time.

7. Dr. Singh’s grandsons faced problems: Dr Singh’s grandsons, who performed the last rites, had to fight for space to reach the pyre. He had to struggle to reach near the pyre.

Amit Malviya: Only family members, priests and ceremonial guards were present near the pyre.

Dr. Singh’s mortal remains were prepared for cremation by his grandsons.

8. Bhutan’s king stood up, Modi remained sitting: Foreign diplomats were seated elsewhere and were not even seen. The surprising thing was that when the King of Bhutan stood up, the Prime Minister did not stand up.

Amit Malviya: Foreign diplomats were made to sit at pre-determined places. As per protocol, the King of Bhutan and the Foreign Minister of Mauritius were sitting in the front row.

9. There were no arrangements at Nigambodh Ghat: The entire funeral venue was so poorly arranged that there was no room left for the many people attending Dr Singh’s funeral procession.

Amit Malviya: There were no restrictions on well-wishers, supporters and visitors to pay their tribute. The Defense Ministry has been entrusted with the task of conducting the last rites with full military honours. That is what was done. We hope that Congress will stop playing politics over the death of Dr. Manmohan Singh and give him the respect he deserves.

Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha said- Manmohan Singh should get Bharat Ratna.