The Congress has approached the Centre seeking a resting place for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who died on Thursday, along the banks of the Yamuna river in Delhi, where many former PMs have their memorials.

Sources said the government is yet to get back to the Congress. Interestingly, it was the UPA government headed by Singh that had blocked demands for separate memorials. In 2013, the UPA Cabinet decided to set up a common memorial ground — Rashtriya Smriti Sthal at Raj Ghat — in view of the paucity of space.

The Congress’s desire to have a separate resting place for Singh is notable as it is often accused of ignoring its stalwarts outside the Gandhi family and downplaying their contributions to the country.

The Congress and the Gandhi family still carry the stigma of humiliating former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao after his death.

Given the fraught relations between former party president Sonia Gandhi and Rao, the Congress shunned the former PM after he demitted office in 1996 following an eventful tenure that saw not only the Babri mosque demolition, but also the unshackling of the Indian economy and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery scandal.

For years, the Congress refused to acknowledge Rao’s role in opening up the Indian economy, the biggest reforms India has seen since Independence.

The first PM outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to complete a full term in office, Rao continues to be the only Congress PM who does not have a separate resting place in the national capital. His body was not even allowed inside the 24, Akbar Road, national headquarters of the AICC when he died in December 2004, with his cortege forced to park on the pavement outside the main gate.

Rao finally got a memorial in 2015, 10 years after his demise. The BJP-led government built a memorial ghat for Rao at Ekta Sthal Samadhi Complex on the grounds that he was entitled to State honours as a former PM. The BJP government awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, to Rao earlier this year.

The government has already declared seven days of mourning for Singh. The Union Cabinet on Friday passed a resolution hailing him as an eminent statesman and a distinguished leader who left an imprint on national life.