Political bigwigs line up to say final goodbye to Manmohan Singh, the OG reformer
Manmohan Singh. President Droupadi Murmu, vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as well as the Gandhis and a galaxy of leaders from across parties visited Singh's official residence to pay their respects.
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The home ministry said Singh's last rites will be held at 11.45 am on Saturday at the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium. He will be given a state funeral with full military honours. The Congress had asked the government to allot a place for the cremation as well as a memorial at the designated site for funeral rites of former PMs near Rajghat on the banks of the Yamuna.
Congress sources said party president Mallikarjun Kharge had conveyed this to Prime Minister Modi in a letter. They said Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had also broached the subject with defence minister Rajnath Singh. Kharge told a CWC meeting that the issue was being discussed with the government and the members of Singh's family, who would take the final call. While former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was accorded a funeral and memorial near Rajghat, his predecessor PV Narasimha Rao was cremated in Hyderabad with a memorial there.
A half-day holiday is to be declared for central government offices and central public sector units to
