PM Modi second Indian Prime Minister to lose his mother in office

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tragically lost his mother Heeraben Modi today in Gujarat. She was 99. PM Modi is only the second Indian prime minister to lose his mother while in office, the first being HD Devegowda whose mother died just weeks after he took charge as the PM back in 1996.

Devegowda served as the 11th prime minister of the country from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. His mother Devamma died a few weeks after he assumed office.

Condolences poured in after Heeraben Modi’s death in the early hours today and Devegowda also expressed his grief.

“My heartfelt condolences to PM Narendra Modi on the passing away of his mother Heeraben Modi. She was a centenarian who lived a full life, but one wishes a mother to be around, forever, to energise and anchor. May God give Shri. Modi the strength to bear the loss. Om Shanti,” he tweeted with a photo of the PM’s mother.
PM Modi also tweeted today on his mother death: "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."