Will Modi’s marital status help common man, asks Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena which is part of the NDA, has hit out at the Congress for raking up the issue of the BJP prime ministerial candidate’s marital status. The Congress has complained to the Election Commission that Mr Modi had concealed information about his wife Jasodhaben in earlier poll affidavits.

“First get the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi married and then raise questions about Narendra Modi’s marriage,” said an editorial on Monday in the Shiv Sena newspaper Saamna.

“Those who feel they can get Mr Modi into legal trouble by raising this issue are living in a fool’s paradise,” the editorial said, referring to the Congress party’s complaint to the Election Commission.

“Why has the Congress raised this issue when Mr Modi’s wife Jasodhaben has made no complaint? If the Congress is so concerned about her, it should also take up the issue of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar who died under mysterious circumstances,”the editorial said.

The editorial endorsed Mr Modi’s family’s stand that his marriage to Jasodhaben was a mere formality. “Swami Ramdas ran away in the middle of wedding rituals to dedicate his life to society and his religion. Mr Modi and his wife decided to separate and he went on to become an RSS worker,”it said.

The editorial also accused the Congress of raising this issue to divert attention from its own failings. “How is the issue of Mr Modi’s marriage going to solve issues of price rise and corruption? Is it going to help the common man?”the editorial asked. It said the Congress had no moral right to take up issues concerning women when several of its own leaders have been accused of atrocities against women.