'Mother is the first friend...': tributes pour in as PM Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben dies

BJP leaders on Friday paid tributes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Hiraben, who passed away in Ahmedabad two days after she was hospitalised.

A bulletin from the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, where she was admitted on Wednesday after her health deteriorated, announced that Hiraben had died on early Friday.

“It is very sad to know about the demise of Prime Minister @narendramodiji's respected Mataji Hira Ba. Mother is the first friend and teacher of a person's life, the pain of losing whom is undoubtedly the biggest pain in the world,” Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted.

The struggles faced by her to nurture the family are a role model for all, he said.

“His sacrificial ascetic life will always be in our memory. The entire nation stands with Prime Minister Modi and his family in this hour of grief. The prayers of crores of people are with you,” said Shah, a close associate of Modi for over four decades.

Expressing grief, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said mother's demise creates a void in life that is impossible to fill.

"I am deeply pained by the passing away of Hira Ba, mother of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi. The death of a mother leaves such a void in one's life that is impossible to fill. I express my condolences to the Prime Minister and his entire family in this hour of grief," Singh said in a tweet.

Paying tributes, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said it was the values which Hiraben imparted to her family through a difficult life full of struggles that has given the country a leader like Modi.

Her simple and compassionate image will always be with us, he said.