GUWAHATI: The Congress and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao chose Manmohan Singh over Pranab Mukherjee to be a Rajya Sabha member from Assam in 1991.
That was Singh’s maiden stint in the Upper House. He became the finance minister that very year and then, the Prime Minister in 2004. The high point for Mukherjee, who served as a central minister multiple times, came in 2012 when he donned the mantle of President of India.
“Narasimha Rao Ji had asked sir (former Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia) to bring Manmohan Ji to the Rajya Sabha from Assam. Sir followed that instruction,” said Congress MLA and Assam’s leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia who is the son of Hiteswar Saikia.
Assam has fond memories of Singh. During his stint in the Rajya Sabha from Assam (1991-2019), he mentioned his residential address as House No 3989, Ward No 51, Nandan Nagar, Sarumataria, Guwahati in his election affidavits.
A narrow road leads to the house which is registered in the name of Dr Hemo Prabha Saikia, wife of Hiteswar Saikia. He visited the house on some occasions but never stayed there.
The soft-spoken Singh remained indebted to Hiteswar Saikia for “taking charge” of him by offering him a seat in Parliament. “This was an honour done to me. I would never be able to forget it,” he had once stated.
He had also expressed gratitude to Hiteswar Saikia and his wife for “adopting” him as a tenant, thus helping him become an Assam resident.
Accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur, Singh visited Guwahati during every election to exercise his franchise at a polling station at Dispur Government Higher Secondary School.
“As we mourn his passing, we also celebrate the life of a man who will always remain a guiding light for India. May his soul rest in eternal peace, and may his family find strength in this time of loss,” Debabrata Saikia posted on X.
The Assam Congress wrote, “Dr Manmohan Singh, the visionary Prime Minister who steered India from the brink of collapse to a thriving economy. A leader who worked quietly yet profoundly, shaping the nation's future without the clamor we often see today. Truly, the architect of New India.”
The Assam government announced seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
During this period, the national flag will fly at half-mast at all state government establishments and all official entertainment programmes stand cancelled, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
"Coming from humble origins in a post-partition India, he served the nation in several distinguished positions. A generation of Indians will always remember his pivotal role in ushering a free market economy and ending decades of regressive socialist policies. In his demise the nation has lost a great patriot, an exceptional scholar, an unconventional politician and a fine statesman. My deepest condolences to Gursharan Madam, his family and well-wishers,” Sarma posted on X.
