Sister-in-law tells all: Diggy's 'marriage' jibe at Modi exposed

The prospect of an election-time scandal and the relentless media spotlight in times that are nosier than ever may have prompted former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congressman Digvijaya Singh to make a sudden and full disclosure about his relationship with TV anchor Amrita Rai. But while the 67-year-old leader has been largely lauded by party stalwarts and on social media for his ‘honesty’ and ‘bravery’, his own sister-in-law is clearly not impressed. Speaking to The Telegraph, Singh’s brother Laxman Singh’s wife Rubina made a pointed reference to a time when the shoe was on the other foot – she had met Laxman when she and the latter’s wife Jagriti were undergoing chemotherapy. Thirty years younger than Laxman, the duo married in 2002 after his wife passed away. At that time, Digvijaya had been vehemently opposed to the wedding, reportedly on the grounds that she was so much younger. [caption id=“attachment_1447803” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh. PTI[/caption] According to the report, Rubina said she has had to endure taunts ever since. “Even Laxman’s daughter, 13 years younger to me from his first wife, was instigated against me. Now when Digvijayaji marries Amrita, his daughters will all be older than his new wife,” Rubina was quoted as saying. Up until now at least,  Singh’s strategy had actually worked, with several posts on Twitter welcoming the outing of the relationship. Amrita’s estranged husband spoke out too, saying he wishes her well and that they have actually lived separately for a long time. ND Sharma, a senior journalist and a critic of Digvijaya Singh,  said  it took “a lot of courage” to be candid about the relationship. Even veteran BJP leader Babulal Gaur said he “saluted” Digvijaya for “listening to his heart”. His four daughters and an MLA son refused to comment about the relationship, though it appeared the family had been in the know for some time now. “I’m no coward,” the leader told journalists, comparing his own situation with that of BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, who had acknowledged the existence of his wife for the very first time in an election affidavit last month. And what better route could there be to out himself, about a relationship that he has been in for close to a year, since about six months after the death of his wife to cancer, than social media? 

  What his sister-in-law’s statement will do to all this goodwill remains to be seen however. What is also noteworthy about this entire escapade, was the fact that the ‘gentlemanly thing to do’ was not his first course of action when the rumours about his relationship with Rai first began. A report in India Today says there was speculation on social media about Singh’s personal life for about two months now. In fact, whispers that the former chief minister was seeing somebody also included a video reportedly showing him performing a puja with an unidentified woman. According to The Telegraph , the video began doing the rounds last October. “The buzz then was that Digvijaya had “secretly” married Amrita. But well-placed sources had trashed such talk and said Digvijaya’s in-house rivals circulated the video,” the report said. But that was, for whatever reason, not yet the time to seek the moral high ground.