Heeraben Modi: Indian PM Modi’s mother dies aged 99

Heeraben Modi, mother of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, passed away in the wee hours of the morning. She was cremated.

She lived in western Gujarat state and had been admitted to the hospital there on Wednesday after her health deteriorated. She was 99 years old.

He lit his mother’s funeral pyre as soon as he arrived in Gujarat in the morning. After the funeral, he used video conferencing to attend ceremonies that were arranged in the state of West Bengal.

On June 18, when Heeraben turned 99, Mr. Modi wrote in his blog that her life and sacrifices had “moulded” his thoughts, personality, and self-confidence.

On December 4, when Mr. Modi paid a visit to her home during the assembly election in Gujarat, his home state, they were last spotted together in the open.

On social media, several ministers and lawmakers posted condolences for her passing.

Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, extended condolences to Mr. Modi.

Rajnath Singh, the defence minister of India, said that the news left him “very grieved.” According to him, losing a mother causes a lifelong void that is unfillable.

The leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, also offered Mr. Modi and his family his condolences.

In Gujarat’s Mehsana district, in Visnagar, Heeraben was born in 1923. When she was a teenager, she wed Damodardas Mulchand Modi and moved to the adjacent town of Vadnagar.

In his letter, Mr. Modi said that Heeraben had never gone to any public events and had only ever accompanied him on two occasions, the second of which was when he initially entered office as Gujarat’s chief minister in 2001.

Heeraben visited him in Delhi only two years after he took office as prime minister of India in 2014. Her tour of Mr. Modi’s official house was documented in images he posted.

Heeraben was pictured visiting a bank to swap old notes months later, when Mr. Modi’s administration controversially outlawed 500- and 1,000-rupee notes in an effort to combat undeclared riches.