Even though his mother passed away on Friday morning, Prime Minister Modi did not cancel his events in West Bengal as flagged off the Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri through video conference. This after he performed the last rites of his mother Heeraben Modi, who passed away at a hospital in Ahmedabad, at a crematorium in Ahmedabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Hiraben passed away at a hospital in Ahmedabad early on Friday. She was 99. A bulletin from the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, where she was admitted on Wednesday after her health deteriorated, shared the news of her demise. "Hiraben Modi passed away on 30/12/2022 at 3.30 am during the treatment at U N Mehta Heart Hospital", the medical bulletin said.
The prime minister reached the residence of his brother Pankaj Modi at Raysan village on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, where the mortal remains of his mother were kept. PM Modi arrived at the airport here in the morning and was driven straight to the house of his younger brother.
He offered floral tributes to his mother and bowed down at her feet. Later, PM Modi shouldered her mortal remains on way to the cremation ground for her last rites.
Earlier, the prime minister tweeted that "a great journey of 100 years" has ended with his mother’s demise.
"A great journey of 100 years has come to an end. I have witnessed three qualities in mother, a journey like that of a tapasvi (saint), a selfless worker and life dedicated to values," Modi tweeted.
"When I met her on her 100th birthday she told one thing which I always remember. "Kam karo buddhi thi, jivan jivo suddhi thi" (work using your brain and live life with purity," he said in the tweet.
PM Modi visited the hospital to inquire about his mother's health on Wednesday after learning about her condition. After spending over an hour at the hospital on that day, the PM left for Delhi after doctors informed him that her health was stable. He had also spoken to doctors at the hospital, a government-funded autonomous medical facility.
Hiraben, also called Hiraba, lived at Raysan village with PM Modi's younger brother. The prime minister regularly visited Raysan and spent time with his mother during most of his Gujarat visits.