`Jashodaben, Narendra Modi`s wife, on char dham yatra`

Zee Media Bureau/Ritesh K Srivastava Unjha: BJP`s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi`s wife Jashodaben, who has so far led a solitary life after being abandoned by her husband, has disappeared ever since the Gujarat Chief Minister accepted for the first time that he is married. Media reports on Friday claimed that Jashodaben Modi, who retired as a school teacher recently, had left on a `char dham` pilgrimage with a congregation of 40 women. Jashodaben has vanished from the scene after spotlight turned back on her when the Election Commission displayed Narendra Modi`s nomination form which revealed her name as his wife. Reports, quoting some members of her family, also claimed that she has been whisked away to an undisclosed location as she anticipated attempts by the national media to reach her. Jashodaben, 62, who is a highly religious lady and lives a quite life, had sometimes back told her colleagues that she wanted Narendra Modi to acknowledge her once as his wife. Close relatives of Jashodaben even claim that the lady has been holding fast for some months as a penance to see her husband Modi becoming PM. "Her prayers have been answered as Narendrabhai has publicly accepted her as his wife. We are very happy. We all pray for him to become PM," Kamlesh Modi, Jashoda`s elder brother and a grocery shop owner in Unjha, was quoted as saying. Reports also claimed Kamlesh saying that his sister Jashoda never considered re-marrying after Modi left her 45 years back to become a full time RSS pracharak. She gave up wearing footwear for four months seeking PM candidature for Modi and is now on a once-a-day diet to see her wish fulfilled. Jashoda and Modi were married in 1968 as teenagers. After retirement, Jashoda stays with her brothers with Kamlesh in Unjha and Ashok who lives in Brahmanwada, her ancestral village 32km from Modi`s hometown Vadnagar. Though Modi abandoned her, Jashoda is held in high regard in her husband`s family. Jashodaben avidly follows news reports about her husband and has never spoken ill about Modi, claims Vasanti, the chief minister`s sister.