A collage of photographs, a few of them rather intimate, of Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and TV anchor Amrita Rai went viral on social media on Wednesday, forcing both to acknowledge their relationship which was till now in the realm of speculation.
Digvijay was the first to admit the relationship through a tweet, in which he hinted at taking it to a logical conclusion even as he objected to the intrusion of social media into their privacy.
“I have no hesitation in accepting my relationship with Amrita Rai. She and her husband have already filed a mutual consent divorce case. Once that is decided we would formalise it,” he tweeted.
The Congress leader then went on to add: “I do condemn encroachment in our private life. Journo is with Rajya Sabha now.”
The mention of the otherwise sombre RSTV was to set the record straight, as Rai was identified in the original tweet that went viral as an NDTV anchor.
Though there was no explicit mention of a marriage plan in Digvijay’s tweets, the promise of formalisation of the relation was read as such. This promptly divided the twitterati into for and against camps. While many enjoyed seeing “Diggy Raja” in a tight spot, others congratulated him for the candid admission of an extra-marital affair.
Rai too chimed in, tweeting that she has “separated from my husband” and that they “have filed mutual consent divorce papers. After which I have decided to marry Digvijaya Singh.”
She also noted that her “email/computer been hacked and contents tampered with.
“It is a serious crime in India and encroachment of my privacy. I strongly condemn it.”
This undoubtedly was a novelty, a politician admitting to an extramarital affair, though there was not much scope of denial given the nature of the photographs that were splashed in the public domain.
Digvijay lost his wife not so long ago. This election season appears to be one of candid admissions as well. For the first time in many years, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi recently admitted to being married and put his estranged wife Jasodaben’s name in his election affidavit.