By Abdul Bari Masoud, MM News,
NEW DELHI: The Congress seized upon the opportunity to attack Narendra Modi after he for the first time publicly acknowledged his marital status while filing his nomination papers from Vadodara. Fielding its Mahila Congress chief Shobha Ojha at the party’s daily briefing on Thursday here, the party puts a question mark on his character wondering what women of the country expect from one who did not do justice to own wife.
The Congress questioned what sort a person he (Modi) is? Who hid his marital status and allowing the woman he married to fend for herself for the past 46 years.
Shobha Ojha fired a volley of questions on Gujarat’s controversial chief minister for lying before the nation. She asked him as to why did he hide his marital status to the nation and what was his compulsion to concede that he was a married man and why did he deprived his wife Jashodaben for the last 46 years from her social, legal and moral rights. Is this kind of “samman” (respect) and “suraksha” (sacurity) he promises for women?
When asked why the Congress is trying to do politics on the private life of the rival party’s leader, she shot back that she and all women of the country will have to stand up against one who is in the public life, forcing his wife to live an ignominious life. “We have to stand up for a woman who suffered his torture silently for all these years”.
Ojha said it was shocking that Modi neither kept his wife with him nor did he divorce her. Lauding Jashodaben, she said, as true to be an Indian wife who struggled to get educated and become a primary school teacher. “Despite all this hardships and ordeals, she says she only wishes for his (Modi) success in his life. Since Modi has now admitted her as his wife, the big question is: Will he take care of her in future”?
When one correspondent asked whether Mahila Congress would stand by her by forcing Modi to take her to 7 Race Course Road residence of the Prime Minister if he really makes it in the elections, Ojha retorted that one forgets that Modi never brought her to even the Chief Minister’s house he is occupying for the past 13 years.
She said that “A person who could not fulfill the promises he made in seven “fera” (Hindu marriage ritual of taking rounds around fire), how can he trusted for the promises he is giving to the nation. He forgot “patidharma” is talking of “rajdharma,” she added.
While recalling Modi’s public speech in Shimla that he has no family, “aage-pichhe koye nahi” and so no question of doing any corruption for the family, Ojha said Modi owes an explain why he misled the nation. Is this his morality or speaking lies is his personality trait, she asked.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh also attacked Modi describing as “liar”. He said how can a person be trusted who speaks lies before the nation. He 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.”
Modi’s wife Jashodaben is a 62-year-old retired teacher, and they were married in 1968 and had also separated because Modi moved out of home as a young RSS pracharak. In an affidavit submitted along with his nomination papers filed on Wednesday for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat, Modi stated for the first time that he is married. So far he used to leave the “spouse” column in poll affidavits blank. He had left the column blank in the 2012 Assembly elections as well.