Wife of Modi Jashodaben airs safety concerns
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
The estranged wife of Indian PM Narendra Modi has raised concerns about her safety and asked for information about arrangements for her security.
Jashodaben, a retired school teacher, filed a Right to Information (RTI) application to the state government in Gujarat where she lives.
Mr Modi admitted publicly for the first time he was married when he filed his election nomination papers in April. They married when they were 17, but the couple have lived apart for years, according to a news agency.
He has always avoided questions on his personal life amid suggestions he wished to appear celibate to appeal to his core Hindu nationalist voter base.
Soon after Mr Modi's spectacular win in the May general elections, Jashodaben was provided round-the-clock security.
"I am the wife of the honourable prime minister of India," she wrote in her RTI application filed before the authorities in Mehsana district where she lives with her brother.
"I would like to know under what provisions of the law and the constitution of India am I being provided protection? As wife of the prime minister what are the other benefits I am entitled to?"