Following a tradition he commenced in 1967, when he left home to join the society full-time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turned 64 on Wednesday, met his nonagenarian mother, Hiraben, here to seek her blessings.
The affectionate mother, 94, blessed her illustrious son in an emotional reunion. Sitting on a plastic chair, she also fed “laddoo” to Modi and gifted Rs 5,001 which would be donated towards the PM’s Relief Fund for the flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir. Modi spent about 15 minutes with his mother and other family members.
When Modi took her blessings on September 17, 2013, she had gifted him Rs 11 while on May 22, before he left for New Delhi to take oath as PM, she had gifted Rs 501.
Although the Gujarat Government launched a series of welfare programmes to mark Modi’s birthday during his presence here, the PM had urged the people not to celebrate the occasion with pomp and donate liberally for providing relief to the flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir
Modi, who arrived on his home turf of Gujarat on Tuesday on a two-day visit, the first after he took oath as PM on May 26, and stayed at the Raj Bhavan here, drove down to his younger brother Pankaj’s residence in Sector 22 to meet Hiraben. The mother has been staying with her younger son, a Gujarat Government official, for long.
Every year, Modi visits his mother at least twice, the other occasion being Diwali. Also, he seeks her blessings at the time of elections and victories, or before taking oaths.
Birthday wishes
Modi’s 64th birthday is significant because he is going to host the visiting Chinese President, Xi Linping, in Ahmedabad. Jinping congratulated Modi whom he is scheduled to meet in the afternoon.
The PM also received congratulatory calls from President Pranab Mukherjee and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, among others.
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, a close confidante of Modi and his successor, tweeted early this morning to wish the PM and also “saluted” his mother. She visited the Raj Bhavan to personally greet the PM.