Modi 'deserted' wife, says Congress' Kamat; BJP hits back

Mumbai, Jan 27: Congress leader and former union minister Gurudas Kamat Tuesday made a scathing attack on Narendra Modi, saying the prime minister was "still married" and had "deserted" his wife. The BJP promptly ticked him off, saying he has "lost his mental balance". Kamat termed it "a shame" that Modi had deserted his wife of over four decades. "He is still married, they are not divorced... he has deserted her. Jashodaben is a great woman. She is praying for him in temples," he said. The Congress leader further said that in contrast, Modi has made a new woman like Smriti Irani a cabinet minister, given her full security and also a bungalow. "But his wife, who is a village school teacher, is languishing and travels in public buses and autorickshaws, with the SPG following her in vehicles," Kamat said at a Congress protest rally against the Maharashtra government and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai over his various public demands. The comments evoked sharp reactions from various BJP leaders, with legislator Atul Bhatkalkar ticking him off for losing his "mental balance".