Mourners gathered in India’s capital on Saturday to pay their respects to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the man’s state funeral. which is the key to economic freedom of the country.
Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died on Thursday at the age of 92, following a seven-day state mourning.
His casket, draped in floral garlands, was escorted by a guard of honor to his Congress Party headquarters in New Delhi.
The body of the former prime minister will be laid to rest in New Delhi with full state honours.
He will later be escorted through the capital for the last rites, accompanied by a military guard and given full state honours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to attend the funeral along with other leaders, described Singh as one of India’s “most respected leaders”.
Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he had “lost a mentor and a leader”, adding that Singh “led India with great wisdom and integrity”.
US President Joe Biden called Singh a “true statesman”, saying he had “outlined path-breaking developments that will continue to strengthen our nations – and the world – for generations to come”.
The former prime minister was an extraordinary technocrat who was praised for overseeing an economic boom in his first term.
Singh’s second term ended with major corruption scandals, slow growth and high inflation.
Singh’s unpopularity in his second term, and the weak leadership of the current opposition leader in the lower house, Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, led to Modi’s first landslide victory in 2014.
Service to the nation
Born in 1932 in the mud house village of Gah near Chakwal in what is now Pakistan and then the British rule in the subcontinent, Singh studied economics to find a way to alleviate poverty in the vast country.
He won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he earned a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his doctorate.
Singh held senior civil service positions, served as the Governor of the Central Bank and held various assignments with international agencies, including the United Nations.
He was tapped by then Congress Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1991 to serve as Finance Minister and steer India out of the worst financial crisis in its modern history.
Although he never held elected office, he was nominated for the highest office of the National Congress in 2004.
In his first term, Singh steered the economy through a period of nine percent growth, lending India the international power it had long sought.
He also sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the US which he said would help India meet its growing energy needs.
President Draupadi Murmu said that Singh “will always be remembered for his service to the nation, his unblemished political life and his great humility”.