Team News Riveting
New Delhi, December 28
The mortal remains of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat here on Saturday.
The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh. Singh passed away on Thursday night at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences due to age-related medical complications. He was 92.
Dr Singh was married to Gursharan Kaur in 1958. Together, they had three daughters: Upinder, Daman, and Amrit. Upinder Singh (65), the eldest daughter, is a well-known history professor and the Dean of Faculty at Ashoka University. She has written several books and was awarded the Infosys Prize for Social Sciences in 2009. She is married to author Vijay Tankha. Upinder Singh has also served as the former head of the history department at Delhi University.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top leaders and foreign dignitaries were present at the last rites. King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Mauritius Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful were among the foreign dignitaries.
Besides President Murmu and Prime Minister Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among the top leaders who paid their last tributes to the former prime minister.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the three services chiefs also paid their last respects to Singh.
The funeral procession carrying Singh’s mortal remains reached the crematorium at around 11.30 am, where the last rites were performed. Earlier, the final journey of Singh began from the AICC headquarters on Saturday morning after Congress leaders paid homage to their departed leader. Singh’s mortal remains were taken to the AICC headquarters from his residence 3, Motilal Nehru Road a little before 9 am.
Considered the architect of India’s economic reforms, Singh served as the prime minister for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.
A seven-day national mourning is being observed throughout the country 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.
