Ahmedabad, Nov. 15: Narendra Modi's 96-year-old mother today visited a Gandhinagar bank in a wheelchair to exchange 500-rupee notes before waiting TV cameras, prompting allegations of a stage-managed event to deflect criticism of the Prime Minister.

Camera crews from a raft of local and national television channels were already at the Oriental Bank branch in the Raisan neighbourhood as Hiraba was wheeled in by family members around 11.45pm.

Some television journalists told The Telegraph their channels had been alerted about the visit in advance by the state information department, where Modi's youngest brother Pankaj, with whom Hiraba lives, is an officer.

Hiraba didn't have to wait long - there were just a handful of customers in the separate queue for senior citizens. She handed over nine 500-rupee notes and received one 2,000-rupee note, five 100-rupee notes and two bundles of 10-rupee notes.

Before leaving, Hiraba told the journalists she was "happy" to come to the bank and supported her son's decision to curb black money.

" Manne bahu anand thay chhe (I'm very happy)," she said to the reporters' questions.

State Congress spokesperson Rashmikant Suthar alleged that Modi had engineered the "media event".

"The episode bears Modi's signature," he said. "The idea was to convey that when the Prime Minister's mother can herself come to the bank and wait in queue, ordinary citizens shouldn't complain or criticise Modi."

Critics asked why Hiraba had not got the money exchanged by her family members - many of whom, including Pankaj's wife, had accompanied her to the bank but did not withdraw any money themselves.

Pankaj did not respond to calls made to his mobile number. The Prime Minister's elder brother Somabhai Modi, who lives in Ahmedabad, told this newspaper: "I'm sure my mother insisted on the bank visit - that's how she is."

He added: "Whenever I go to meet my mother in Gandhinagar, I give her money. She must have got some of it exchanged today."

BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said that Hiraba's move had sent out "a positive message" to the country.

An employee at the bank branch too said he had been deeply impressed to see the Prime Minister's mother queue up like a commoner.

"There was no pomp and show. She approached the counter like any other senior citizen," the employee said.

Hemant Shah, a social activist and a college professor, agreed with the Congress spokesperson that "Hiraba must have been asked to go to the bank to hog the limelight".

"Modi, under fire for his demonetisation decision, needs such a gesture from his mother to boost his image," Shah, a former RSS man who has turned into one of the Sangh parivar's staunchest critics, said.

"It's sad that her sons have became so insensitive that they sent their 96-year-old mother to a bank just to create a media sensation. It's not just in bad taste but goes against Indian culture."