Tiwari

New Delhi, Oct. 15: Former Union minister Sher Singh today said he knew all along that N.D. Tiwari was the father of his grandson Rohit Shekhar and had hoped the Andhra Pradesh governor would adopt him.

Singh, who is undergoing medical treatment at a Delhi hospital, said Tiwari was a frequent visitor to his 3 Krishna Menon Marg house when he was MP and minister between 1967 and 1980.

“That my daughter had a failed marriage was understood by Tiwari who then offered and pledged her lifelong emotional support and relationship,” recalled Singh, who was minister of state for defence in Indira Gandhi’s government.

“An intimate relationship developed between Tiwari and my daughter and culminated in the birth of her son Rohit. We knew from the beginning that my daughter Ujjwala and N.D. Tiwari were mother and father of Rohit.”

Rohit, 29, has filed a paternity suit against Tiwari in Delhi High Court. In his reply to a court notice, the octogenarian governor and four-time chief minister has denied he is Rohit’s father and refused to undergo a DNA test. He was not available for comment today.

Singh said when he and his wife Shobha talked to Tiwari, “he had vowed that in such an exceptional situation, he would perform his duty towards his son with all seriousness and would adopt his son soon”.

The former minister said when Tiwari’s wife died in 1993, Rohit was 14. The family asked him to legally adopt the boy after the one-year period of mourning ended. “Tiwari refused to listen to the request, consequently there was little communication with him from 1995.”

Tiwari’s former colleagues and friends in the Congress distanced themselves from the controversy. An AICC general secretary said: “It is a legal matter between Tiwari and the petitioner. The party does not have a view as it seems like a personal matter between two individuals.”

Privately, most Congress leaders acknowledged knowing Rohit, a lawyer, and his mother who are frequently seen in party circles.

Ujjwala was appointed joint secretary of the women’s wing of the Indian Youth Congress in 1968. Tiwari was Youth Congress president when he came in touch with her father the previous year.

Singh and his family members have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior leaders Shivraj Patil, Pranab Mukherjee and Digvijay Singh but said they offered little more than words of sympathy.

A Congress leader, who said the rift was an “old one”, added: “It must be understood by all concerned that a party or its leadership has a limited role in the resolution of a dispute of such nature. It can either be amicably settled or through a judicial pronouncement.”

But old timers recalled how Indira Gandhi would handle cases of “moral turpitude” or complaints of “inappropriate” behaviour. Her way was to order an informal probe and if a party member was found guilty, she would “discipline” the person rather than let the matter go to court.

In one instance, sons of a party leader resented the presence of his “good friend” when their mother died. Indira is said to have threatened the politician he would be stripped of his portfolio. On another occasion, she summoned the wife of a politician and told her to be on guard vis-à-vis a close family relative.

But Rajiv Gandhi had a “hands-off policy” in such matters. Sonia Gandhi is following the same.