Narendra Modi condoles death of Mrinalini Sarabhai

New Delhi, Jan 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the death of noted danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai and has written a letter to her son Kartikeya Sarabhai, expressing his grief over her demise.

Modi wrote a letter to him on Thursday, condoling the death of his mother, a BJP leader said. Her son is based in Gujarat.

Veteran danseuse and Padma awardee Sarabhai, the exponent of classical dance forms who used her art to highlight the problems faced by modern society, had died in Ahmadabad yesterday due to age-related problems. Sarabhai died at the age of 97.

Earlier in the day, danseuse Mallika Sarabhai hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he had not paid tributes to her mother Mrinalini on her death, and said that this showed his "hate" mentality.

Mallika Sarabhai had hit out at Modi, claiming he had not paid tributes

The classical dancer-turned-activist, who had fought 2009 Lok Sabha elections against veteran BJP leader L K Advani from Gandhinagar constituency as an Independent candidate but lost, vented her ire on Modi as he has so far not condoled the death of her mother, who also hailed from Gujarat.

"My dear Prime Minister. You hate my politics and I hate yours. That has nothing to do with what Mrinalini Sarabhai did to promote the culture of this country, to the world over sixty years," Mallika wrote on her Facebook post.

"She blazed a trailer for our culture in the world. That her death sees no word from you shows your mentality. How ever much you hate me, as our Prime Minister it behove you to recognise her contribution. You have not. Shame on you." she said in the post.

PTI