Congress leaders pay last respects to ex-PM Manmohan Singh at AICC headquarters

New Delhi: The mortal remains of former prime minister Manmohan Singh were brought to the AICC headquarters on Saturday where top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi paid their last respects to him.

Draped in the national flag, the casket carrying Singh's body was brought to the Congress headquarters from his 3, Motilal Nehru Marg residence in a flower-bedecked vehicle amid tight security.

The procession reached the AICC office a little before 9 am.

Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur, their three daughters and relatives were also present. They were received at the Congress headquarters by Kharge and Sonia Gandhi.

Kaur also paid her last respects by laying a wreath. Kharge and Sonia Gandhi placed the Congress flag with the iconic 'charkha' next to the casket.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and several ex-Union ministers were among those who paid tributes to the former PM.

Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay were also there.

Singh's mortal remains were kept at the Congress headquarters for an hour before his final journey to Nigambodh Ghat. His last rites will be conducted with full state honours.

Singh, who headed the Congress-led UPA government and is considered the architect of India's economic reforms, died on Thursday at 92. He was India's prime minister for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.

A seven-day national mourning will be observed throughout the country as a mark of respect to the former prime minister and during this period, the national flag will be flown at half-mast across India, the Union Home Ministry has announced.