Modi's wife: Congress' taunt and brothers' defence

Singh's reference to stalking of a woman is an apparent reference to the surveillance of a woman by the Gujarat police

Allegedly at the behest of higher ups in the state government.

Seeking to contain the controversy, Modi's elder brother Somabhai said the marriage should be seen as a "social formality" which happened nearly 50 years ago.

In a statement sent to the media by the BJP, Somabhai said, "Our parents had not studied much and we were a poor family. To them Narendra was like any other child. In such context our parents conducted his marriage in a tender age with Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the sake of it."

"Modi, after leaving the house has not kept any contact with the family," Somabhai said, adding, "Service to the nation was his only religion. So he left home and material pleasures. His marriage was just a formality as he left the house soon after his marriage.