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Jashodaben Narendrabhai Modi seems to be seeking recognition as the wife of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “People continue to ask me whether I wish to move to Delhi. How can I, when there is no invitation?” she asks.
Her family claims no one from the state government or the state Bharatiya Janata Party unit has approached it in the past six months.
Now, Jashodaben has filed a Right to Information (RTI) application at the office of the superintendent of police in Mehsana, seeking details of the security arrangements for her, as well as the privileges she is entitled to.
Sitting in a shabby room in her house in Brahmanwada, a small village in north Gujarat, Jashodaben says, “I have sought details regarding my security arrangements from Mehsana and Gandhinagar. But no one could provide written documents.”
Her family feels it has the right to know the grounds on which security has been extended to her. For the past six months, a group of five security personnel has been deployed for her round-the-clock safety. Contrary to what her RTI application and news reports suggest, the security personnel and Jashodaben seem to share a good rapport.
In her RTI application, she has mentioned former prime minister Indira Gandhi was shot by her security personnel.
Jashodaben’s primary contention seems to be the fact that while her security personnel travel in an air-conditioned Tata Indigo, she is denied this and instead, has to travel using public transport — auto rickshaws and buses.
One of her nephews has documented her rides in his mobile phone, though he refuses to share this. “Isn’t this disgraceful for Narendra Modi?” the nephew asks, wishing not to be named.
The family is hopeful Jashodaben will be allotted a car. Her security personnel have clarified she cannot use their car. “We are a group of five. At least one of us travel with her in the bus or auto rickshaw she travels in; the rest travel in the car,” explains one of the security personnel. They do not share the grounds on which Jashodaben has been granted security.
The past six months seem to have changed the media-shy family into one that is more open. While those in other households in this area seemed reluctant to speak to this reporter, Jashodaben’s family greeted her with water and savouries. Jashodaben, surrounded by her brother, sister-in-law and nephew, is open to chatting for hours with this reporter.
Jashodaben’s family comprises her three brothers — Ashok, Kamlesh and Sandip Modi — and their wives and children. She shuttles between the houses of Ashok and Kamlesh in Unjha town and Brahmanwada. Her own house is in Brahmanwada, a few lanes away from her brother’s residence.
Sources in the state government say the questions raised by Jashodaben in the RTI application are relatively easy, adding she is likely to receive the answers soon. The only contentious question seems to be that relating to the privileges she is entitled to as the prime minister’s wife.,RTI
