NEW DELHI: She wants to live with her husband, the Indian prime minister, but he does not want her to. She wants to travel abroad but the government demands a marriage certificate without which she cannot get a passport. And she cannot produce the certificate without official help that is not forthcoming.

So Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wife Jashodaben on Thursday filed an RTI application with Regional Passport Office (RPO) Ahmedabad seeking details about the marriage-related documents, Mr Modi had submitted to get his passport when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The plea was made after her application for passport was rejected last November on the ground she did not produce a marriage certificate or a joint affidavit to prove that she is married to Mr Modi.

“Jashodaben came to the office today and filed an RTI application related to her passport. We will give her reply in due course,” said Regional Passport Officer Z.A. Khan.

According to her brother Ashok Modi, quoted by Press Trust of India, Ms Jashodaben filed the RTI application to know about the marriage-related documents that Mr Modi had submitted when he applied for his own passport during his tenure as Gujarat CM.

Mr Khan was quoted by PTI as saying Ms Jashodaben’s application was rejected in November last year for lack of supporting documents.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016