The Centre will allocate a space for a memorial of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, said the Union Home Ministry on Friday night ending a row raked up by Congress.
In a late-night release titled "Facts of the matter regarding a memorial for Former Prime Minister Late Dr Manmohan Singh", the ministry stated that the Centre received a request to allocate space for a memorial for Singh from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Following the Cabinet meeting on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah communicated with Kharge and the family of Manmohan Singh about the allocation of space by the government for the memorial.
In the meanwhile, cremation and other formalities can take place because a Trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated to it, the home ministry said.
The development came after Congress slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for "not finding" a location for the cremation and memorial of Singh saying it was a "deliberate insult" to the country's first Sikh prime minister.
On Friday, the Union home ministry released a statement saying Singh's last rites will be held at New Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat sparking a sharp reaction from Congress.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to conduct Singh's last rites at a location where a memorial could be built to honour his legacy.
"The people of our country are simply unable to understand why the Government of India could not find a location for his cremation and memorial that is befitting of his global stature, a record of outstanding achievements, and exemplary service to the nation for decades," Ramesh said in a post on X.
"This is nothing but a deliberate insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh," the Congress leader said.