Narendra Modi's 'wife' fears powerful husband

Ahmedabad: The woman who calls herself the wife of Narendra Modi said in a rare interview this weekend that she doesn't "feel bad" he has cut her out of his life.

Modi, 63, is the opposition BJP's prime ministerial candidate. He has never commented on reports that he wed Jashodaben when she was 17. The retired school teacher spoke to a newspaper and said that they split three years into their marriage and since he left "we have never been in touch".

"I know he will become PM (prime minister) one day," said Jashodaben, 62. She said she doesn't "feel bad" Modi has never acknowledged her as his wife, adding: "I know he is doing so due to destiny and bad times."

"In such situations, he has to say such things and also has to lie," she said. Modi allegedly kept the wedding secret because it meant he would not be able to climb the ladder of the puritan Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), a hardline Hindu group that frowns on key workers marrying, according to a recent Modi biography by author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.

In 2009, a magazine tracked Jashodaben to the school where she taught but she refused to give an interview, saying she was afraid of her "powerful" husband.