Modi told to stay with his wife

A proposal, approved by a Horyana state woman gram sabha, has asked BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to stay with his wife, Jashodaben.

According to the Times of India online news, a women's gram sabha at Bibipur village in Haryana's Jind district on Friday passed the resolution.

The women have reportedly sent the resolution to Narendra Modi through the Gujrat chief minister's official email.

Around 100 women of Bibipur participated in the gram sabha after they came to know that Modi, 63, is a married man. They said while Modi has been talking about showing respect to women across the country, he should show respect to his wife first.

The group has been frequently in news media for their stance over women's rights in the state.

In the nomination papers filed on Wednesday for Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency, Modi named Jashodaben as his wife.

This is for the first time Naredra Modi divulged the secret that he is married. At about 17, he married a same-aged woman named Jashodaben.

Now a retired schoolteacher, Jashodaben lives at Brahmiwada, a village 35 km away from where Modi stays, in Gujrat. Within the space of two weeks, they got separated. In the four of the previous Vidhan Sabha elections, Modi left the option blank. The Indian National Congress raised the question of his marital status. Now he felt compelled to disclose the long-kept secret.

The Indian elections commission has imposed the rule that no unmarried person can contest in the elections.