Manmohan Singh was not a weak but strong and decisive leader: Patole

Mumbai, Dec 28 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Saturday said former prime minister Manmohan Singh was not a weak but a strong and decisive leader, recognised globally.

Speaking at a function to pay tributes to Singh, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 92, Patole said the homage pouring in from different countries shows the respect he had earned.

The Congress leader said Singh had achieved glorious success on the basis of his knowledge.

“He wasn’t a weak leader but a strong and decisive one,” Patole said.

Singh, who led India to the path of economic liberalisation in the 1990s, was cremated with full state honours in New Delhi on Saturday in the presence of top dignitaries from the country and abroad.

The ex-PM’s funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter, Upinder Singh, at the Nigambodh Ghat.

Earlier, a row erupted over a memorial for the former prime minister, with the Congress demanding that Singh's last rites be performed at a place where a memorial could be built later. The party also alleged that the government led by the BJP was "deliberately insulting" the first Sikh prime minister of the country in not doing so.

Patole also slammed the Centre over the issue. PTI MR NR