)
National Commission for Women (NCW) member Nirmala Samant on Thursday asked why Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi did not disclose details about his wife in previous elections.
"Narendra Modi has disclosed this information, as there is a column in Election Commission's form where you have to disclose the assets details of your relatives. This is the first time he has disclosed the name of his wife as he needed to provide these details," said Samant.
"It is very important as she has got justice after all these years. She is given respect and has been accepted as his wife," she added.
"It is my personal opinion it should be investigated as to why the EC did not compel him to disclose this in earlier elections. There was no need to give him a special status," she said.
Samant also said that it very unfortunate that the wife of Modi, who has taken up the cause of women in India, was deprived of property, maintenance and her rights.
It is being reported that Modi in his poll affidavit, which he filed on Wednesday from Vadodara, has written the name of 'Jashodaben' in the column of spouse.
It was also reported that since 2001, Modi have been leaving the column blank whenever he filed his form for election. In his rallies too, Modi has claimed to be 'single' and unmarried.
Recently, in an interview with a private newspaper, 62-year-old Jashodaben, a retired school teacher, had said that she was married to Modi, but had separated from him after three years.
She is now living with her brother in a village in western Gujarat and gets a monthly pension of Rs. 14000.
