Why is the Centre on the back foot despite doing everything in the Manmohan Singh memorial controversy?

New Delhi: 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 chess move. At present, after the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, there was a lot of politics between Congress and BJP in the name of his funeral site and building his memorial. But finally the NDA government at the Centre 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. reached there and tried to give the message that Manmohan Singh’s personality was beyond politics. He is respected by all the people of India. But even after doing all this, instead of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress went ahead in grabbing the public’s sympathy for itself by creating a ruckus on the demand for building a memorial. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party does not reveal its cards so easily. Therefore, it would be considered foolish to say that it is going on the backfoot on this issue.

BJP should not take over Manmohan Singh like Narasimha Rao and Pranab Mukherjee
Actually, the way Congress was offensive about Manmohan Singh, there must have been a kind of fear behind it. If Congress had shown even a little carelessness, then just like BJP made Narasimha Rao and Pranab Mukherjee its own, today there was a danger of Manmohan Singh also becoming BJP’s own. The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi was walking behind Manmohan’s funeral procession along with his close colleagues from the cabinet, that was not necessary in general. It was enough for the PM to offer floral tribute to Dr. Singh’s mortal remains.
But the kind of sentiments shown by BJP were exactly like bringing another Congress leader to its side after his death. The way Congress leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narasimha Rao, Pranab Mukherjee were ignored by the party, the result of this was that BJP was able to make them its own. BJP wanted to show that only the leaders of the Gandhi family have a say in the Congress.

The kind of statements given by Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee were an example of Congress not giving enough importance to non-Gandhi leaders. Sharmistha Mukherjee has written on social media.x, when Baba died, the Congress party did not even call a meeting of the Working Committee to express condolences. A senior leader told me that this does not happen for presidents. She further writes that this argument is completely nonsense, because as I later found out from Baba’s diary, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee was called after the death of KR Narayanan and his condolence message was prepared by Baba himself. Meanwhile, Narasimha Rao’s brother also said 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. It is clear that the Congress did not make such a mistake for Manmohan Singh. Somewhere behind this, the BJP was afraid that Manmohan might also join the BJP camp after his death. However, even now the BJP can get ahead of the Congress by announcing a memorial and Bharat Ratna for Manmohan Singh.

Why is the BJP looking so generous towards Manmohan Singh
Now the question arises that what is the reason that the Bharatiya Janata Party is looking so generous towards Manmohan Singh. It is clear that Manmohan Singh has been a Congress leader and at the same time, he has given many harsh statements against the Modi government. Still, the gesture shown by the 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 allocate a place for the memorial of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was said that immediately after the cabinet meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah had told the family of the Congress President and former Prime Minister that the government will provide space for the memorial. Meanwhile, his last rites and other rituals can be completed because a trust has to be formed and space has to be allotted for the memorial.

Not only this, at the time of the funeral, the Prime Minister reached the funeral site Nigam Bodhi Ghat along with special ministers of the Government of India, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh etc. The government is repeatedly saying that it will soon allocate land for Manmohan Singh’s memorial.

In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party are not able to write the script of Punjab Vijay despite trying very 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. About 12 percent of the people in Delhi are from the Sikh community. Along with this, the Sikh community becomes very important in many seats of Delhi. Sikhs become the basis of victory or defeat on about 9 seats. Sikhs have a greater influence in seats like Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri, Moti Nagar, Rajendra Nagar and Greater Kailash. At present, Aam Aadmi Party holds 8 out of 9 seats. After parting ways with Akali Dal, BJP is worried that its votes may go to Congress or Aam Aadmi Party in this assembly election as well.

How the controversy started, the entire opposition appeared united for Manmohan’s memorial
The decision on where Dr. Manmohan Singh’s funeral will be held was not even taken when Congress started playing an 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 of many Congress leaders started coming in demanding a place for the memorial. The government decided that the former PM will be cremated 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 over the funeral and memorial of a great personality like Dr. Manmohan Singh ji. The Government of India is getting the funeral of a personality whom the world is respecting done at Nigam Bodh Ghat instead of any special place.

It was surprising when Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal also expressed displeasure with the Modi government on the issue of Manmohan Singh’s memorial. In a post on X, he wrote, Shocking and unbelievable! Dr. Manmohan Singh’s family had requested to cremate this eminent and outstanding leader at a place where a historical memorial could be built. The central government rejected this request. This is extremely reprehensible…

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati attacked the government. Mayawati wrote on social media X, The central government should perform the last rites of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh Prime Minister of the country, after his death and also build a memorial etc. in his honor at the place where his family wishes.