Manmohan Singh: Congress Leaders Pay Tribute to a Visionary Leader

New Delhi:Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's final journey will commence from the 24 Akbar Road All India Congress Committee headquarters to the Nigam Bodh Ghat at 9.30 am on Saturday. Congress leaders and workers will pay tribute to the departed leader at the party headquarters. The Union government has decided that a state funeral will be held for the former Prime Minister at the Nigam Bodh ghat at 11.45 am. The ministry of defence will make the necessary arrangements.

The Central government on early Friday morning declared a state mourning for seven days in which no official functions will take place and the national flag will fly at half mast.

Draped in the Tricolour, Singh's body was brought to his 3, Motilal Nehru Road, residence, the sprawling bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi that served as his retirement abode for more than 10 years, on Thursday night from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, where he was admitted in a critical condition at around 8.30 pm on Thursday. His mortal remains will be taken to the Congress headquarters at 8:30 am on Saturday.

On Friday, top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, paid their last respects to Singh. AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders were also present.

Mrs Gandhi described the death of Manmohan Singh as a "personal loss". The Congress parliamentary party said that the former PM was her friend, philosopher and guide and that in his death, the party has lost a leader who was the epitome of wisdom, nobility and humility.

In her message on Manmohan Singh's demise, Mrs Gandhi said he leaves a void in national life that can never be filled. "We in the Congress party and the people of India will forever be proud and grateful that we had a leader like Manmohan Singh, whose contributions to India's progress and development are immeasurable," she said, adding, "He was so gentle in his manner but so resolute in his deeply held convictions."

"His commitment to social justice, secularism and democratic values was deep and unwavering. To spend any time with him was to come away enlightened by his knowledge and sagacity, moved by his honesty and integrity and awed by his genuine humility," Mrs Gandhi said, adding that his advice, "wise counsel" and views were eagerly sought and deeply valued across the political spectrum in the country.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met in the national capital on Friday evening and paid glowing tributes to the former Prime Minister, saying he was a towering figure in India's political and economic landscape whose contributions transformed the country and earned him respect worldwide.

In the condolence resolution passed at the meeting, the CWC mourned the loss of a "true statesman" whose life and work have profoundly shaped the destiny of India.

"Manmohan Singh was a towering figure in India's political and economic landscape, whose contributions transformed the country and earned him respect worldwide. As finance minister in the early 1990s, Manmohan Singh was the architect of India's economic liberalisation," the CWC resolution read.

With unmatched foresight, Manmohan Singh initiated a series of reforms that not only saved the nation from a balance-of-payments crisis but also opened the doors to global markets, it said.

"Through his policies of deregulation, privatisation and the encouragement of foreign investment, Manmohan Singh laid the foundation for India's rapid economic growth. Under his stewardship, India emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing economies, a testament to his brilliance and vision," the CWC said.