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Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday said the government has never 'disagreed' on a memorial for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and slammed the Congress for doing "politics" and creating a controversy in everything.
The BJP leader said the Centre has already said that a trust would be formed for the memorial. Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister Meghwal said, "The Congress should not have done politics on this... The government said that a trust would be formed. When did the government deny? The Congress wants to create a controversy in everything... This is not the right time to create controversy like this." Dr Singh passed away at the age of 92 due to age-related medical issues in Delhi on December 26. On Saturday, Singh was cremated with full state honours at Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi's Kashmere Gate in the presence of his family, friends, colleagues, and government dignitaries. Notably, a war of words has broken out between BJP and Congress leaders over the cremation of Manmohan Singh at Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat and his memorial. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri accused the Congress party of "creating" a controversy over the cremation of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and building a memorial for him. He highlighted that former PM Narsimha Rao's body wasn't even brought to the AICC headquarters. Speaking to ANI, Puri said, "There is no controversy but it is being created. Congress party is isolated in the INDI alliance and even in the country. Congress didn't allow PV Narasimha Rao's mortal remains to come to party headquarters and his final cremation was done in Hyderabad." "Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote a letter that we (Congress) would like something - the home ministry released a communication and said that we agreed to their request," he added. Puri assured that a memorial will be built to honour the memory of former PM Manmohan Singh. "The Sikh community came and prayed for him (Manmohan Singh). We have always admired his work and drawn inspiration from him...when his ashes were immersed, our people were there and not the people from Congress. In the days to come, a memorial will be built for sure. I don't think that we should give a free run to those who are creating controversy," he told ANI. On Saturday, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a social media post on X, wrote, "By not providing an adequate place for the cremation of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Government has not done justice to the dignity of the post of former Prime Minister, the personality of Manmohan Singh, his legacy and the self-respecting Sikh community." Notably, the UPA government had rejected requests for separate memorials in the national capital citing lack of space. (ANI)
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