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NEW DELHI: After Narendra Modi’s acceptance of his marital status, his brother issue a statement that Modi’s marriage 50 years ago was just a “social formality.’’
Somabhai Modi, who is Narendra Modi’s elder brother, said in a statement in Ahmedabad on Thursday, “Our parents had not studied much and we were a poor family. To them Narendra was like any other child. In such context our parents conducted his marriage in a tender age with Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the sake of it.’’
He said, “The incident (Modi’s marriage) which had occurred 45-50 years ago is to be seen in the background of a poor and traditionally orthodox family.’’
According to the elder brother, “Modi, after leaving the house, has not kept any contact with the family. Service to the nation was his only religion. So he left home and this material world. His marriage was just a formality as he left the house soon after his marriage. Even Jashodaben has been living at her father’s home and spending her life working in the education sector.’’
Somabhai said Narendra Modi was different among the six siblings.
“His interest in the service to the nation was quite apparent to us. But nobody could have estimated the intensity of his idea of service to the nation. He was also very influenced with the sacrifice and dedication of Swami Vivekananda and Lord Gautam Buddha.”
Somabhai’s statement was issued by the BJP.
While filing his nomination papers for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday, Narendra Modi had admitted for the first time that Jashodaben is his wife whom he married when he was 17. She lives in a village after retirement as a school teacher.
