Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited his mother Hiraben Modi here and took her blessings on his 66th birthday.
Modi reached the residence of his brother Pankaj Modi in Raysan area of state capital here, where his 97-year-old mother is staying.
The Prime Minister sought her blessings and spend around 25 minutes with her. He later drove off to Raj Bhavan where he is put up during his visit.
Born on September 17, 1950, Modi turned 66 today. He is here to spend his birthday between tribal and Divyangs (differently abled).
He will travel to Limkheda of Dahod and inaugurate many schemes for development of this tribal district later in the day.
He was accorded a grand reception in Ahmedabad on Friday night as he landed at in Gujarat for his 66th birthday on Saturday.
This is the PM's third visit in recent times to Gujarat, where Assembly elections are due next year.
Governor OP Kohli, the entire Gujarat cabinet including the Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP leaders including the newly-appointed president Jitu Vaghani and hundreds of party workers welcomed Modi at the airport.
After his grand reception, Modi thanked Gujarat BJP leaders and party workers and drove to the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar where he spent the night. Some of the party workers seemed disappointed as Modi did not address them.
Later, he would go to the tribal district of Dahod to inaugurate various irrigation projects.
Dahod collector Lalit Padaliya said the inauguration ceremony will be held at Limkheda town, around 25 km from the city, and the PM will also address a rally there.
"The Prime Minister will inaugurate Kadana-Hafeshwar irrigation project," Mr Padaliya said.
Later in the afternoon he would go to Navsari where he is scheduled to take part in a function where aid would be distributed to the differently-abled persons.
"In Navsari, PM will distribute kits and aid to 'divyang' citizens. He will also address a large gathering near Navsari town," Pandya said.
BJP is facing a challenge in Gujarat ahead of next year's polls in the aftermath of Patel quota agitation and the protests of Dalit community after the Una atrocity incident.
Last month Modi visited his home state twice -- to condole the death of Sawminarayan sect's leader Pramukhswami Maharaj and later to inaugurate an irrigation scheme in Saurashtra region.
