The Modi blues

The man who could be India's next prime minister was keeping a secret from the electorate.

As India faced one of the biggest days of its month-long elections yesterday, with more than 100 million people in 19 constituencies across 14 states going to the polls, the focus was not on politics but on a remarkable revelation about Narendra Modi, the man many believe will become prime minister.

Mr Modi is running for the Bharartiya Janata Party and is a senior member of its spirutal mentor group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, whose leaders are traditionally single men who dedicate themselves to selflessly serving their country.

It has long been assumed that Mr Modi is single – indeed, commentators have referred to his "bachelor rectitude" – so it came as quite a shock to many Indians when it was revealed that he is a married man. In an official affadavit to the Electoral Commission this month, he has acknowledged a wife named Jashodaben, yet in documents lodged for Assembly elections in 2012, Mr Modi left the "spouse" field empty.

While his wife has come forward to say that they were married in their teens and stayed together for only a few years, the revelation raises questions about Mr Modi. Whatever the election’s outcome, the billion-plus Indian people deserve a leader who will tell the truth – the whole truth.