Election frontrunner Narendra Modi has acknowledged for the first time that he is married, solving one of the biggest mysteries about the private life of the man tipped to be India's next prime minister.
The 63-year-old is routinely described as a bachelor and is thought to have lived alone in his adult life having come through the ranks of a grassroots Hindu nationalist organisation in which celibacy is expected.
Media reports have described how he walked away from a marriage arranged by his parents when he was a child, but this has never been confirmed by the man himself who has portrayed his single status as a virtue while campaigning.
In an affidavit on Wednesday as he filed his papers to stand as a member of parliament from the Vadadora constituency in western Gujarat state, he acknowledged that he had a wife.
In the column of the affidavit to mention spouses, the chief minister of Gujarat wrote the name "Jashodaben", but he states elsewhere in the filing that he had "no information" about her.
Reports have consistently stated that he was betrothed to a 62-year-old now-retired school teacher called Jashodaben, who gave an interview in February in which she said she didn't "feel bad" about not being part of Modi's life.
The relationship is believed to have never been consummated.
Modi, a hardline Hindu nationalist consistently ahead in the polls, told a biographer recently that he "actually enjoys loneliness" and has said that because he has no children he is more likely to be a clean politician.
"I've no familial ties. Who would I ever try to benefit through corruption?" he told a recent rally.
He has contested four times for seats in Gujarat's regional assembly but has never stated his marital status on the affidavits.
India's mammoth national election, which entered the third of nine phases on Thursday with almost a fifth of the 543 seats in the parliament up for grabs, has been described as a "battle of the bachelors".
Modi's main opponent Rahul Gandhi from the ruling Congress party, which has been in power nationally since 2004, is single.
Unlike in many other democracies, being unmarried is not seen as a handicap in India because Hinduism has a strong tradition of asceticism in which followers renounce worldly pleasures.
Other parts of Modi's personal story remain unclear, particularly a period as a young man when he is believed to have wandered in the Himalayas on a journey of spiritual discovery.
AFP
Thu Apr 10 2014
![India poll favourite 'bachelor' Modi admits he is married India poll favourite 'bachelor' Modi admits he is married](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2013-03/61363479161_295x200.jpg)
BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi.
![Istiadat Pertabalan Agong: Orang ramai dinasihat tidak cemas dengar tembakan meriam Istiadat Pertabalan Agong: Orang ramai dinasihat tidak cemas dengar tembakan meriam](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721193528_tbIstiadatPertabala.jpg)
Istiadat Pertabalan Agong: Orang ramai dinasihat tidak cemas dengar tembakan meriam
Orang ramai dinasihat tidak cemas jika terdengar bunyi tembakan meriam semasa memandu di Jalan Sultan Abdul Halim pada Jumaat dan Sabtu ini.
![Buang tulis 'PN' kepada bekas MP, Speaker minta hantar surat Buang tulis 'PN' kepada bekas MP, Speaker minta hantar surat](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721192211_SyedHussinDewanR.jpg)
Buang tulis 'PN' kepada bekas MP, Speaker minta hantar surat
Jelas Johari, sehingga kini, PN belum menghantar sebarang notis kepadanya bagi menarik paparan di skrin Dewan Rakyat mengenai status Syed Abu Hussin.
Istiadat Pertabalan Agong: Orang ramai dinasihat tidak cemas dengar tembakan meriam
Orang ramai khususnya warga kota dinasihatkan agar tidak cemas jika terdengar bunyi tembakan meriam semasa memandu di sepanjang Jalan Sultan Abdul Halim pada pagi Jumaat dan Sabtu ini.
Jangan 'shoot down' idea P-turn - Menteri Kerja Raya
Menteri Kerja Raya, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi minta YB Stampin, Chong Chieng Jen tidak 'shoot down' idea P-turn di Lebuhraya Pan Borneo yang beri kemudahan kepada pengguna.
#AWANInews
#AWANInews
![Tragedi MH17: Sedekad berlalu, keadilan akan terus dituntut Tragedi MH17: Sedekad berlalu, keadilan akan terus dituntut](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/41720776307_UkraineCrisis.jpg)
Tragedi MH17: Sedekad berlalu, keadilan akan terus dituntut
Mahkamah itu dalam penghakiman memutuskan bahawa mahkamah tidak meragui sama sekali bahawa MH17 telah terkena sebutir peluru berpandu BUK yang ditembak dari padang di ladang di timur Ukraine.
Teroka peluang baharu ekonomi, kurangkan kebergantungan hutang
Menurut, Pensyarah Kanan, Fakulti Perniagaan dan Ekonomi, Universiti Malaya, Dr. Safiah Omar hutang boleh menjadi alat untuk memperoleh dana yang diperlukan tetapi pergantungan yang berlebihan boleh membawa kepada masalah kewangan jangka panjang, termasuk beban hutang yang tinggi serta mendorong kepada ketidakstabilan ekonomi
![Maybank perkenal tempoh bertenang 12 jam untuk peningkatan had pemindahan wang Maybank perkenal tempoh bertenang 12 jam untuk peningkatan had pemindahan wang](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-01/51704603925_TBMAYBANK.jpg)
Maybank perkenal tempoh bertenang 12 jam untuk peningkatan had pemindahan wang
Langkah ini dilakukan dalam usaha mengekang penipuan perbankan dalam talian, serta mencegah penipuan yang cuba meningkatkan had pemindahan transaksi.
![Teroka peluang baharu ekonomi, kurangkan kebergantungan hutang - Pakar Teroka peluang baharu ekonomi, kurangkan kebergantungan hutang - Pakar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721188868_HBREAKHUTANG.jpg)
Teroka peluang baharu ekonomi, kurangkan kebergantungan hutang - Pakar
Negara-negara yang mempunyai hutang yang tinggi sering menghadapi kesukaran untuk membayar semula hutang.
Prabayar Siswa: KPT sambut baik pengumuman pakej rahmah
Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (KPT) menyambut baik pengumuman Kementerian Komunikasi yang menawarkan Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa pada harga tidak melebihi RM30 dengan permulaan data minimum sebanyak 30GB untuk tempoh sah laku selama 180 hari.
![George Town dikenali semua, tiada keperluan tukar nama - Wong George Town dikenali semua, tiada keperluan tukar nama - Wong](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/41712139037_Beca.jpg)
George Town dikenali semua, tiada keperluan tukar nama - Wong
George Town telah dikenali seluruh rakyat Malaysia dan dunia sekian lama, justeru tiada keperluan untuk menukar nama ibu negeri Pulau Pinang itu.