Jasodaben reiterates that she is Modi's wife

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's estranged wife Jasodaben on Wednesday reiterated that she was indeed his spouse and that her insult was an “insult of Prime Minister of India”.

“I am his wife and shall remain so. It is the truth that I married him. It is true and not false,” Jasodaben was seen stating in a 10-second video clip which has gone viral.

She was reacting to media reports that quoted Madhya Pradesh Governor and former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel reportedly saying at an Anganwadi function that the prime minister is not married.

In another 1.29 minute video. Jasodaben, a retired teacher, said: “I Jashodaben Narendra Modi state that Anandiben Patel, who is educated, has used indecent language, behaviour and conduct against another teacher. Her quote in Divya Bhaskar (a local daily) published on June 19, 2018, on the front page is a complete lie.

"My husband is like Ram. Please stop maligning his name and playing politics. Insulting Jasodaben means insulting Prime Minister of India,” she said.

“Before you became the chief minister in 2014, Prime Ministerial aspirant Honourable Shri Modi while filing his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections from Vadodara had clearly written my name in the nomination form as his wife. I have a copy of that filled up form. Still, current Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Anandiben Patel, in a function of Anganwadi had made a statement that Prime Minister was not married and in the same paragraph reads that Prime Minister Modi had married in 1968. Thus, Anandiben has given a wrong statement,” she added.

DH tried to contact Jasodaben to verify the authenticity of the video. But her brother Ashok, with whom she currently resides, answered the phone and said that she was not available as she had gone to visit a temple.

He, however, said that the video was genuine. “She has herself written it and read the statement. We got a call from Ahmedabad about the publication of the report quoting Anandiben and we saw it on the mobile. After reading the article and having lunch, we felt that we must answer and so we made this video,” Ashok, who runs a small grocery shop in Unjha town, said.

“He (Prime Minister) is a good man. There is no other person like him. We have a lot of respect for him but people are misusing (his name) to play politics. This is wrong. We felt that when we are being defamed, it is better to say the truth.”