Seeking to contain a controversy over Narendra Modi’s marital status, his elder brother Somabhai today said that the BJP prime ministerial candidate’s marriage should be seen as a “social formality” which happened nearly 50 years ago.
Modi acknowledged his marriage to Jashodaben for the first time in his affidavit filed along with his nomination papers in Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency yesterday which has invited derisive remarks from the Congress. In the state assembly polls, he had left blank the column about spouse.
In a statement sent to the media by the BJP, Somabhai said, “Our parents had not studied much and we were a poor family. To them Narendra was like any other child. In such context our parents conducted his marriage in a tender age with Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the sake of it.”
Modi’s family members did not know much about him as he has never maintained active contact with them after he left the house, he said.
In his yesterday’s affidavit Modi has stated that he has no information about the assets and liabilities of his wife.