‘Left indelible imprint’: President, PM lead tributes to Manmohan; cremation today

The top leadership of the country, led by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paid homage to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence here today.

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Singh, the architect of the country’s economic reforms, passed away at AIIMS here last night at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters.

Editorial: A statesman for the ages

Draped in the Tricolour, Singh’s body was today brought to his 3, Motilal Nehru Road, residence, the sprawling bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi that served as his retirement abode for the last over 10 years since he relinquished charge as the PM. The last rites will be performed at Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi at 11.45 am on Saturday. His final journey would commence from the AICC headquarters at 9.30 am, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said.

The Union Cabinet today held a condolence meeting under PM Modi and adopted a resolution hailing Singh as an “eminent statesman, renowned economist and a distinguished leader who left an imprint on national life”. The Cabinet also observed a two-minute silence in honour of the departed soul.

Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda, and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi visited the former PM’s residence to offer their condolences in the presence of his wife and other family members. Former J&K Governor NN Vohra also paid his last respects to Singh at his residence.

Prime Minister Modi, who laid a wreath, described his predecessor’s death as a big loss to the nation, asserting that his commitment to the people and the country’s development would always be respected.

The government has declared a seven-day state mourning till January 1, 2025, a period during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout the country and at all missions and high commissions abroad.

Chief Ministers Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (HP), MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), N Chandrababu Naidu (AP) and Revanth

Reddy (Telangana) also came to Delhi to pay their last respects to the ex-PM. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said his contributions to Bharat would always be remembered.

Born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on September 26, 1932, at Gah village of the Punjab province (now Pakistan), Singh passed his matriculation exam in 1948. His family migrated to Amritsar after Partition in 1948 after living shortly in Haldwani.

Singh completed his graduation in economics from the Hindu College here before moving out of the city to pursue higher studies in Panjab University’s Hoshiarpur campus. He later went to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First Class Honours degree in Economics. Singh followed this with a DPhil in Economics from Nuffield College of Oxford University.

Singh, who steered the country for 10 years during 2004-14 and helped set up the economic framework as Finance Minister before that, was a renowned name in the global financial and economic sectors.