India bids adieu to visionary leader, economic architect

New Delhi, Dec 28: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who led India to the path of economic liberalisation in the 1990s, was cremated with full state honours here on Saturday in the presence of top dignitaries from the country and abroad.

Singh’s funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter, Upinder Singh, at the Nigambodh Ghat as family members, friends and dignitaries bid farewell to the reformist former prime minister.

President Droupadi Murmu, the supreme commander of the armed forces, led the nation in paying last respects to the departed leader.

Priests and family members recited religious hymns from the holy Gurbani, while chants of ‘Satnam Waheguru’ filled the air, as Singh was cremated according to Sikh rituals.

Before Singh's mortal remains were consigned to flames, the security forces gave a salute of three volleys of small arms and the buglers sounded the "Last Post" as a mark of honour for the former prime minister.

At the Nigambodh Ghat, a sense of deep grief united the assembly featuring Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers and senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the foreign minister of Mauritius, Dhananjay Ramful, were among the foreign dignitaries who paid tributes to Singh, who served as the prime minister from 2004 to 2014.

Singh, 92, died on the night of December 26.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also paid their last tributes to the former prime minister and laid wreaths on his mortal remains. Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and the chiefs of the tri-services also laid wreaths on the former prime minister's mortal remains.

Several chief ministers, including Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Atishi (Delhi), besides Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, also attended the last rites of Singh.

Former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel were also present, apart from All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretaries K C Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala and several former Union ministers.

Among the first ones to place a wreath on the mortal remains of the late prime minister was his political mentor, Sonia Gandhi, to whom he deferred his entire life even at the cost of criticism by political rivals. It was Sonia Gandhi who, after powering the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, stepped back from the prime minister's chair, nominating Singh to lead the coalition.

The quintessential economist went on to steer the nation for the next 10 years, a period that saw him end India's nuclear apartheid by pressing ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, despite resistance from the Left Front that was giving support to the UPA from outside.

In a show of uncharacteristic firmness in 2008, Singh risked his government over the deal after the Left withdrew support. He faced and won a no-confidence vote in the Lok Sabha.

Entering the Rajya Sabha in 1991 as a member from Assam, Singh remained in the House of Elders till April 2024. His last innings in the Upper House was from Rajasthan, the only other state he ever represented besides Assam.

Singh died of age-related complications at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, the ace tertiary-care public establishment where the former prime minister always got admitted whenever he faced medical complications.

Sources close to the family said "Akhand path" would be held at Singh's residence on January 1 and its "bhog" would be held on January 3. They said the Antim Ardas and kirtan for Singh would be conducted at the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj in the evening of January 3.

Earlier in the day, Singh's body, placed in a flower-bedecked casket and carriage, was taken from his 3, Motilal Nehru residence in Lutyens' Delhi to the headquarters of the Congress party, which he represented in Parliament for 33 long years.

At the party office, Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid rich tributes to their leader, as did thousands of Congress workers who had gathered to catch a last glimpse of Singh.

The former prime minister's final journey then started from the AICC office to the Nigambodh Ghat, where the procession reached around 11:30 am. A large crowd had gathered at the AICC office as well as at the Nigambodh Ghat.

The vehicle carrying the mortal remains of Singh left his residence a little before 9 am. The procession moved forward amid chants of "Manmohan Singh Amar Rahe". A number of Congress workers and leaders, along with hundreds of Singh's well-wishers, walked along chanting "jab tak suraj-chand rahega, tab tak tera naam rahega".

Demands for honouring Singh with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country, were also raised during the procession.

Draped in the tricolour, the flower-bedecked casket was placed on a raised platform at the ghat, where leaders cutting across party lines laid wreaths on Singh's mortal remains.

Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur and one of their daughters also laid a wreath on his body at the AICC headquarters. The three daughters of Singh -- Upinder Singh, Daman Singh and Amrit Singh -- along with other relatives, were present.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also accompanied the procession, sitting alongside Singh's relatives in an Army truck just ahead of the casket carrying the former prime minister's mortal remains. Later, Rahul Gandhi was also among those who carried Singh's body to the pyre.

Earlier, a row erupted over a memorial for the former prime minister, with the Congress demanding that Singh's last rites be performed at a place where a memorial could be built later. The party also alleged that the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was "deliberately insulting" the first Sikh prime minister of the country in not doing so.

After the matter of a memorial to Singh took a political colour, the government clarified that a decision to build one had already been conveyed to Kharge by the Union home minister after Friday's Cabinet meeting.

A government statement also said the funeral could be held as the process of setting up a trust and allotting land for the memorial could take a while.

Kharge had written to Modi on Friday seeking a memorial for Singh. Several sections of the society also urged the government to confer Bharat Ratna on the late economist-prime minister. A seven-day national mourning is being observed as a mark of respect to the former prime minister during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast across the nation, the Union home ministry has announced.