Narendra Modi’s wife wants to know what privileges she is entitled to as the spouse of India’s prime minister.
Six months into the role, Jashodaben Chiman Modi has asked police why she must use the bus when her security detail travels in a government car and what perks she should be getting as the wife of the country’s most-powerful man.
“I am the wife of the prime minister and as per formal procedure, I want to know what other services am I supposed to get,” Mrs. Modi wrote in a submission under India’s right to information law, according to a spokeswoman at the police station where the document was received.
An odd request for such a person to make you might think but here’s the thing.
Until he filed election nomination papers in April ahead of national polls, Mr. Modi had never mentioned his wife publicly.
The pair had an arranged marriage in their teens and Mr. Modi left her soon after the ceremony. The couple have lived apart since though they are not divorced.
But, after Mr. Modi swept to power in May, his wife, a retired school teacher, was allotted 24-hour protection from five security commandos by the Gujarat police.
In the RTI application submitted Monday, Mrs. Modi stated that “I want to know under which legal clauses/provisions and acts of [Indian] Constitution have I been given the security cover,” according to the police spokeswoman. Mrs. Modi could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for the prime minister was not immediately available for comment.
Referring to the assassination of former prime minister of Indira Gandhi by her security guards in 1984, Mrs. Modi said she “is frightened by the presence” of the commandos and “asked for all the details of her personal bodyguards,” the spokeswoman said.
Besides, she also asked for information about the “other honors and benefits” she is authorized to receive as the prime minister’s wife.
via Mrs. Modi, This Is What You’re Entitled to as Wife of India’s PM – India Real Time – WSJ.
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