Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother Heeraben Modi, passed away at the age of 99 in the wee hours of Friday.
She was admitted to Ahmedabad’s UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre after her health deteriorated. “Smt Hiraba Modi passed away on 30/12/2022, at 3:39 am early morning, during the treatment at UN Mehta Heart Hospital,” the hospital, where she had been admitted since Wednesday, stated in a statement.
Her life was full of struggles. She used to wash utensils at different houses during the childhood days of Modi. Heeraben, despite being the mother of Gujarat Chief Minister earlier, who is now the Prime Minister of India, lived a modest and simple life.
In 2014, Hiraben, travelled in an auto rickshaw to cast her vote, in the Lok Sabha election. At that time she was the mother of the then Gujarat Chief Minister, Modi. In this election, her son was the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP. Subsequently, he won with a landslide margin to become the PM.
Pictures and videos from her house often showed that she lived a humble life despite being mother of the PM. She used to live with Modi’s younger brother Pankaj Modi at Raysan village near Gandhinagar.
Hiraben did not take any special privilege and continued to live a life the way she used to live earlier. She never even shifted to the swanky official residence of the PM. Although once Modi had taken her to the house.
A selfless Karmayogi
To inform about the sad demise of his mother, Modi tweeted, “A glorious century rests at the feet of God… In Maa I have always felt that trinity, which contains the journey of an ascetic, the symbol of a selfless Karmayogi and a life committed to values.” Modi was quite close to her and often used to pay visits to her.
Earlier in June this year, PM Modi had written a blog on her 99th birthday, “This is going to be her birth centenary year. If my father had been alive, he too would have celebrated his 100th birthday last week. 2022 is a special year as my mother’s centenary year is starting, and my father would have completed his.”
Tributes to Heeraben
Meanwhile, tributes poured in from all over as the news about her demise trended on top on Twitter.
Home Minister and close aide of Modi, Amit Shah, tweeted, “It is very sad to know about the demise of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s respected Mataji Hira Ba. Mother is the first friend and teacher of a person’s life, the pain of losing whom is undoubtedly the biggest pain in the world.”
Remembering her struggle, he added, “The struggles faced by Hira Ba to nurture the family are a role model for all. His sacrificial ascetic life will always be in our memory. The entire nation stands with Prime Minister Modi and his family in this hour of grief. The prayers of crores of people are with you. Om Shanti.”