(Image source from: Narendra Modi was married to Jashodaben})
It's official! Narendra Modi is indeed a married man. Ending all speculations on his relationship status, the ex-Gujarat chief minister for the first time declared officially that he has a wife.
Silencing his critics once and for all, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate declared Jashodaben as his spouse in an affidavit he filed along with his election nomination at Vadodra yesterday. You can check Modi's nomination here
The declaration comes after strict legal advice that the future Prime Minister of India come clean on his relationship status.
While Narendra Modi has declared Jashodaben as his wife, he seemed clueless about his spouse's income, IT returns and PAN details. If you may remember, Modi had, in the past, always steered clear of divulging any details about his spouse or even admitting that he is married.
Not much is known about Jashodaben except for a profile published in Open Magazine in 2009. It stated that Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi, Narendra Modi's estranged wife of 45 years, was a retired school teacher in Brahmanwada, a village in Gujarat, and hailed from a place that had little access to water and sanitation.
Both Jashodaben and Modi were married in their teens. Jashodaben's family claims that Modi left her at the age of 18 so that he could pursue a political career. The marriage was never consummated. Soon after he joined the right-wing Hindu organization called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a predecessor of the BJP and from there began his long political odyssey.
As the RSS forbade its top members from marrying, lest the duties and responsibilities of matrimony interfere with their political goals, Narendra Modi, who lived and worked for the RSS full time, refrained from admitting the marriage, lest he lost his position. Consequently, after their 'separation,' Jashodaben submerged herself in her job in Rajosana in Banaskantha district, and retired as a school teacher in 2010, having never re-married.
Modi, on the other hand, has long denied having a wife. Even his supporters assert that he is single since the marriage was never consummated.
For her part, Jashodaben has largely shunned all spotlight. She reportedly survives on a monthly government teacher's pension of 14,000 rupees and lives with her brother. She spends her days in spiritual quest. In her village, she is known a 'Narendrabhai Modi's wife'.
Several attempts have been made in the past to reach out to her. During the Gujarat riots in 2002, an Indian journalist called Darshan Desai tried to meet her, but stepped back when Modi threatened him. It was the French magazine called “The Open” that first tracked her down and tried to interview her. But Jashodaben seemed unsure and said,“I will not say anything against my husband. He is very powerful. This job is all I have to survive. I am afraid of the consequences.”
Earlier in 2014, Indian Express had interviewed her, where she revealed how she and Modi had never contacted after they separated many decades ago.
"I have never gone to meet him and we have never been in touch. I don’t think he will ever call me. In whatever I say, I do not want it to harm him. I just wish that he progresses in whatever he does. I know he will become PM one day!", she told the paper.
Talking about Modi's stren refusal to acknowledge her existence, she stated: “In such situations, he has to say such things and also has to lie.”
She also revealed that they "parted on good terms ... there were never any fights. In three years, we may have been together for all of three months." Jashodaben also lamented: "There has been no communication from his end to this day. I don't think he will ever call me."
The Vadodara LS seat is one of the safest seats for Modi, who is also contesting election from Varanasi.
Now the question is, will this last minute declaration give a new course to the BJP and Narendra Modi's political ambitions? Let us know your minds here.
AW: Suchorita Choudhury
