Amid bereavement, back to business as usual for PM Narendra Modi

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not let his mother’s demise on Friday overshadow his official engagements.

Within a couple of hours after performing the last rites of his mother Hiraben, who died at 99 in a hospital at Ahmedabad, Modi inaugurated the Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, and Other development projects in Kolkata via video link from Raj Bhavan here.

Modi was scheduled to visit West Bengal to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for projects worth more than Rs 7800 crore, but had to rush to Ahmedabad after the demise of his mother, who was hospitalised on Wednesday.

The PM arrived in Ahmedabad, performed the last rites of Hiraben, also called Hiraba, around 9.30 am and addressed the programmes in Kolkata via VC around 11.30 am.

Modi was scheduled to flag off Vande Bharat Express, inaugurate Joka-Tatatala stretch of Kolkata Metro and inaugurate various railway projects at Howrah railway station and chair the second meeting of the National Ganga Council in Kolkata at 12 noon.

After rushing to Ahmedabad, Modi attended these programmes virtually and also flagged off the trains via video link.