With the buzz about Narendra Modi’s marital status gaining momentum after his first official admission of having a wife in an affidavit filed along with his nomination papers on Wednesday, Modi’s elder brother rushed in to clear the air on the issue.

Somabhai Modi, eldest brother of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate, issued an open statement on Thursday morning after Modi submitted an affidavit that officially declared that Jashodaben was his spouse.

Except for the name, the affidavit, which was made public only at midnight on Wednesday for unknown reasons, does not carry any other details of Jashodaben.

In his statement Somabhai attempts to share some crucial facts about Modi’s childhood and made an emotional appeal to the citizens of India not to judge his present stature and credentials on the basis of incidents that happened about 45-50 years back.

“We come from a simple, poor family, which was influenced by orthodox traditions of caste. Due to poverty and backwardness, the prevalence of education was limited in our family…. To our parents, Narendrabhai was like any other child. So, in such an orthodox social context, our parents got Narendrabhai to marry Jashodaben at a tender age,” Somabhai wrote in his statement, which was circulated by the BJP.

He further noted that Modi put ‘service to the nation’ before his married life. “He quit the family and left the house at an early age. His child-marriage with Jashodaben remained a mere formality,” wrote Somabhai adding, “Today, even after 45-50 years, Narendrabhai is detached from the family.”

Somabhai stated that it was due to Modi’s toil and patriotism that he had attained his present heights. “We request (the people) to see this 45-50-year-old incident in the context of the then prevailing compulsions of a conservative and poor family.”

Somabhai also described some hidden qualities of Modi, stating that he had been under the influence of the sacrifice by Swami Vivekananda and Lord Buddha since childhood.

Modi’s admission of Jashodaben being his spouse created a flutter among the political opponents of the Gujarat chief minister. Till now Modi has been leaving the column of spouse blank in affidavits for elections. Even in the State Assembly elections in December 2012, he had left the column blank, keeping everybody guessing about his marital status.

Notably, the Election Commission has made it mandatory for a candidate to furnish the details of the assets and liabilities of his or her spouse failing which the candidate may be disqualified.

Digvijay's tweet

PTI adds: Modi's first public acknowledgement of his wife drew an instant taunt from Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

Singh tweeted, “Modi accepts his marital status. Can women of this country trust a man who stalks a woman, deprives his wife of her right? Vote against Modi.”

Singh’s reference to stalking of a woman is an apparent reference to the surveillance of a woman by the Gujarat Police allegedly at the behest of higher-ups in the State Government.

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