NEW DELHI: Multiple dignitaries including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party parliamentary chairperson Sonia Gandhi attended a solemn ‘Bhog’ ceremony for the ‘
Akhand Path
‘ held in the memory of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence on Friday.
The ceremony, a continuous recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib, was attended by prominent dignitaries who gathered to honor the legacy of the 13th Prime Minister of India.
Among the attendees were former vice-president Hamid Ansari and a large gathering of Singh’s family members, friends, and well-wishers, all of whom paid their respects to the late leader.
Singh, who passed away on December 26 at the age of 92, is remembered for his role in steering India through transformative economic reforms and liberalisation during his tenure from 2004 to 2014.
During the ceremony, Singh’s wife, Gursharan Kaur, sang a ‘shabad’ from the Sikh holy scriptures. A formal prayer meeting was also scheduled later at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, where further prayers and rituals were held in Singh’s honor.
Singh’s cremation took place on December 28 at Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi, with full state honors. A host of national leaders, including President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, and defence minister Rajnath Singh, paid their last respects to the former prime minister by placing wreaths near his mortal remains. The ceremony, which adhered to Sikh traditions, was attended by his family and a number of political figures, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi.
As the finance minister from 1991 to 1996, he led landmark economic reforms that helped reshape India’s financial future. His decade-long tenure as Prime Minister is remembered for his steady leadership, especially during times of economic challenges, and for modernizing India’s economy, earning him both national and international acclaim.
