Ending six- years of struggle, a legal battle that involved emotional arguments and a DNA test, veteran Congress politician Narayan Dutt Tiwari has finally accepted a young man Rohit Shekhar we became familiar with took Mr.Tiwari to court, accepted as his biological son.
“I have accepted that Rohit Shekhar is my son. The DNA test also proved he is my biological son,” Mr Tiwari told in his first ever public acknowledgement of the 34-year-old and his mother Ujjwala Sharma.
On Sunday night, Mr Tiwari invited Rohit to his house and spoke to him out of the blue for the first time in years, reportedly telling him that he was tired of fighting. “I am proud of my association with this great family,” said the 89-year-old.
Mr Tiwari, who was once the governor of Andhra Pradesh and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, is at war with his son all the way to the Supreme Court before arriving at this point where they all may perhaps sit together as a family.
Shekhar went to court against Mr Tiwari in 2008, claiming he was born out of an affair between the Congress leader and his mother Ujjawala. He said he only wanted to be known by the man who grace with his presence in his birthday parties and played with him when he was a kid.
In 2012, Mr Tiwari was forced to take a paternity test after warnings by the Delhi High Court, which even authorized the police to enforce it, if considered necessary. He even moved Supreme Court against the test but failed to stop it.
“What my mother and I went through…the scars, the pain, I don’t want anyone else to go through. I hope we can heal the wounds,” said Rohit, 34. He said that in course of his battle, he suffered a heart attack and developed chronic insomnia.
He speaks the truth that being accepted was just the first step in putting the bitterness behind. “The wounds will not go away even if I pretend. But all I want now is to spend some time with him. Our case has set a precedent and, hopefully, will help others who have gone through this,” he said.
The Delhi High Court is still hearing the case, but Rohit says he has got what he wanted and will bring it to the court’s notice.