Amid Row Over Memorial Site For Manmohan Singh, Central Govt Announces Site For Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi: Days after a war of words broke out between Congress and the BJP over an appropriate memorial site for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Central government has decided to build a memorial for ex-President Pranab Mukherjee.

Four-and-a-half years after the demise of Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced that a memorial for India’s 13th President will be constructed at Rajghat’s ‘Rashtriya Smriti Sthal’.

Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee, who previously expressed her disappointment with the Congress party’s treatment of her father after his death, thanked PM Modi for the ‘unexpected gesture’.

In a post on X, she shared her meeting with the Prime Minister, thanking him for the unexpected gesture.

“Called on Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji to express thanks & gratitude from core of my heart 4 his govt’s decision 2 create a memorial 4 baba. It’s more cherished considering that we didn’t ask for it. Immensely touched by this unexpected but truly gracious gesture by PM,” Sharmistha wrote on X.

“Baba used to say that State honours shouldn’t be asked for, it should be offered. I’m so grateful that PM Modi did this to honour baba’s memory. It doesn’t affect baba where he is now – beyond applaud or criticism. But for his daughter, words are not sufficient to express my joy,” Sharmistha shared.

After former PM Dr Singh’s passed away on December 26, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to PM Modi requesting that his last rites be held at a site suitable for a memorial.

Dr Singh was cremated with full state honours at Nigambodh Ghat, which didn’t please Congress with some leaders calling it as an insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister of India.

The Union Home Ministry, however, has assured that a suitable site for Dr Singh’s memorial will be selected soon, and the government was