Sonia Gandhi Mourns Manmohan Singh, Calls Him a Personal Loss

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.

"He (Singh) steered the nation through the challenges of the global financial crisis in 2008 with strategic measures that shielded India from its worst effects. His leadership saw remarkable initiatives like MGNREGA, the Right to Education, the historic Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Deal, the National Food Security Act, the Land Acquisition Act, the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme and the 93rd Constitutional Amendment that advanced social justice for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs through Article 15(5)," it said.

Manmohan Singh also championed the Right to Information (RTI) Act to enhance transparency, the Forest Rights Act to empower tribal communities and contributed to achieving the highest GDP growth rate during his tenure, the CWC condolence resolution said.