Mumbai (PTI): Superstar Akshay Kumar's mother Aruna Bhatia, who was admitted to a hospital here, died on Wednesday morning.

Kumar, 53, shared a statement on Twitter and paid tributes to his mother, who was in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Hiranandani Hospital. The cause of her death is not yet known.

"She was my core. And today I feel an unbearable pain at the very core of my existence. My maa Smt Aruna Bhatia peacefully left this world today morning and got reunited with my dad in the other world," the "BellBottom" actor tweeted.

"I respect your prayers as I and my family go through this period. Om Shanti," he added.

Last evening, Kumar took to the microblogging site to thank well wishers for praying for his mother's good health.

On Monday, the actor flew back to the country after his mother was admitted to the hospital. He was shooting for his upcoming movie "Cinderella" in the UK.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.

Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.

He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.

Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.

He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.

Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.

He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.