 "Modi's wife spends day praying; no SPG cover yet")
Jashodaben spent the entire day praying along with her friends, reciting bhajans and shlokas, said Ashokbhai Modi, said Jashodaben’s elder brother over phone from Unjha town of Mehsana district in north Gujarat.
“She (Jashodaben) has been busy with her friends, praying since morning. As she is spiritually oriented, she performs these kind of rituals for Modi,” said Ashokbhai, who owns a small provision store in the Satta Bazar market of Unjha. Jashodaben has been staying with him and his younger brother Kamlesh Modi ever since she retired as a primary school teacher some four years ago.
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“After prayers, she would be watching the swearing-in ceremony on television with the rest of the family,” Ashokbhai added.
When asked if Jashodaben has been provided any security cover by the SPG, Ashokbhai said, “Nobody has come here as of now. Neither have we been informed about any such development.”
According to the Special Protection Group Act, India’s Prime Minister and members of his immediate family are provided security cover by the elite commando group who are specially trained in VIP security.
In the affidavit filed by Modi along with his nomination papers for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat on April 9, he had mentioned the name of Jashodaben in the column prescribed for his spouse. It was for the first time in his political career that Modi had admitted under oath that he was married.
Modi, 63, had so far contested four Assembly elections but had never mentioned the name of his spouse in the prescribed column. He had always left it blank. Modi had never talked about being married in public too.