Barely hours after he laid his mother Hiraben to rest following her demise at an Ahmedabad hospital in the wee hours on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to performing his duties. Within hours after he performed the last rites of his mother in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, the Prime Minister virtually attended two back-to-back meetings — flagging off the new Vande Bharat Express between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri and chairing the meeting of the National Ganga Council — through video conferencing.
Addressing the event to launch the new Vande Bharat Express, the Prime Minister apologised to the people of West Bengal for his inability to be physically present in Kolkata with them.
“I was supposed to come to West Bengal but due to personal reasons, I could not come there. I seek forgiveness from the people of Bengal,” PM Modi said addressing the event virtually. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was grateful for the PM’s gesture and offered her condolences to him for his loss.
“On behalf of the people of West Bengal, I thank you so much for giving us this opportunity. It’s a sad day for you. Your mother means our mother also. May God give you the strength to continue your work, please take some rest,” Mamata said.
The event also saw PM Modi inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for various Railway projects in West Bengal through video conferencing.
Soon after attending the event, the Prime Minister virtually chaired a meeting of the National Ganga Council and also laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple sewerage infrastructure projects for West Bengal under the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Prime Minister Modi’s mother Hiraben passed away on Friday, two days after she was admitted to the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre in Ahmedabad. According to the hospital, Hiraben, 100, breathed her last at 3.30 AM on Friday during treatment.
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The PM arrived at the airport in Ahmedabad on Friday morning and reached the residence of his brother Pankaj Modi at Raysan village on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, where Hiraben’s mortal remains were kept. The Prime Minister performed the last rites of his mother at the Muktidham crematorium in Sector 30 of Gandhinagar.
The family, meanwhile, thanked everyone for their prayers and requested people to continue with their scheduled work, saying it would be a befitting tribute to her.
“We thank everyone for their prayers in these tough times. It is our humble request to everyone to keep the departed soul in their thoughts and continue with their pre-decided schedule and commitments. That would be a befitting tribute to Hiraba.”