A couple in Uttar Pradesh recently offered to adopt Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the latter said he was an "adopted son of UP" at an election rally in the state earlier this month.
"Lord Krishna was born in UP and made Gujarat his 'karam bhoomi' (land of work). I was born in Gujarat and UP has adopted me...Uttar Pradesh is my 'mai-baap'. I am not the son who would betray his 'mai-baap'. You have adopted me and it is my duty to work for you," Modi had said on February 17.
Four days later, on February 21, 79-year-old Yogender Pal Singh from Patla village in Modinagar, UP, filed adoption papers at the office of the deputy registrar of Ghaziabad, The Times of India reported.
Though his application was rejected- and this "hurt" him- Yogender told the paper that he has "no political agenda".
Yogendra's decision to file adoption papers was in response to a notice issued to Modi by Nahid Lari Khan, a member of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The notice asked the PM to provide legal documents regarding his adoption in the state.
"He (Modi) was snubbed by the child protection agency of UP, which hurt me immensely. So I came forward with my wife to adopt him. Modi has himself adopted a village in UP. He has asked his MPs from the state to adopt a village each and work for its development. No one questioned him on legal grounds at that point of time," Yogendra told TOI.
The report states that Yogendra was once a close confidant of former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh. As district president of the Lok Dal, he spent 19 months in jail during the Emergency. He moved on to the Janata Party and later, in 1980, had also contested an assembly election on a Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party, which was led by Chaudhary Charan Singh. He however lost the polls. In 2002, Yogendra retired from active politics.
He is the father-in-law of Raja Verma, president of UP state unit of BJP's Kisan Morcha and brother of BJP member and Ghaziabad mayor Ashu Verma, the report adds.