PM Modi's wife files RTI over her security cover

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s estranged wife Jashodaben Modi filed an Right To Information (RTI) application seeking details of the official order under which the government provided her with security, and the facilities she was entitled to by virtue of being the PM’s wife.

“I filed the application asking for details about my security and what else I am entitled to,” Jashodaben told HT.

Jashodaben, a retired school teacher who lives with her brother in a north Gujarat village, filed the well-drafted, three-page application herself on Monday at the Mehsana superintendent of police’s (SP) office.

The application came two days after Jashodaben gave an interview to a Mumbai-based tabloid in which she said, “If he (Modi) calls me once, I will go with him.”

After Modi took over as PM in May, the Gujarat government provided Jashodaben with four commandos at her residence. They tail her wherever she goes, including during her recent trip to Mumbai.

In her application, Jashodaben states: “I, the petitioner, who is the wife of Prime Minister Narendra Modi… travel by public transport while my bodyguards travel by official vehicle.”

“I should be provided a certified copy of the order under which security is provided to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's family members, brothers, sisters and me,” she stated, while asking for details to be given within 48 hours as the issue pertains to a life and death matter.

Elaborating, she cites the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her own commandos. “The commandos assigned to me have no official order by which they have been posted at my residence,” the application says.

“Since Narendra Modi himself has acknowledged her as his wife in his election nomination form, she is the first lady (sic) and is entitled to get all facilities like Manmohan Singh’s wife used to get from the government,” Jashodaben’s brother, Ashok Modi, told HT.

He added that the government should provide his sister with a car and female commandos as she was not comfortable with an all-male security detail.

“She deserves to be with Narendrabhai in Delhi because he is no longer an RSS pracharak. He is the Prime Minister of India now,” Ashok Modi said.

Mehsana SP JR Mothalia confirmed that the PM’s wife had indeed filed an RTI. “Today, she came to our office and filed an RTI to know about her rights as PM's wife with regard to security cover. We will give our written reply to her within the stipulated time," he said.

First Published: Nov 24, 2014 21:29 IST