ND Tiwari is my dad, says son of a former colleague

NEW DELHI: A paternity battle against Andhra Pradesh governor ND Tiwari, 83, has been initiated by one Rohit Shekhar claiming to be his natural son. Former general secretary of All India Young Women’s Congress Ujjwala Sharma, 63, has, in a written statement submitted before the Delhi high court, alleged that Rohit, 29, was born during her relationship with Tiwari.

Explaining the circumstances that led to the said relationship, Ujjwala, in her petition, said that she was “drawn into a relationship by Tiwari, who came from a respectable and prestigious family”, and that Tiwari “convinced” her of his “love and affection”. Sharma alleged that following Tiwari’s decade of persuasion, she “submitted” to the “emotional pressure” that “culminated” into Rohit’s birth.

“My father was an MP and Tiwari often visited my father’s house. We used to meet frequently as he was the president of the All India Youth Congress and I was the general secretary of All India Young Women’s Congress,” she added.

Tiwari, however, has denied any relation with Rohit. While he refused to give a DNA test, he has accepted that Ujjwala was his “paramour” when she was married.
Ujjwala alleged Tiwari had assured her that “the formalities of marriage could be completed after the divorce (with her husband) came through”. And even though she and her husband finally got divorced with mutual consent in 2006, she couldn’t hold Tiwari to his promise to acknowledge his son, Ujjwala added.

She has also alleged that Tiwari used his influence to threaten her, forcing her to seek police protection. According to Ujjwala, Tiwari called Rohit and her over to his Uttarakhand home on his 80th birthday, where Rohit was told to meet Tiwari strictly “outside public eye”. But the mother and son were later told that Tiwari would not associate with them any more, the petition said.
y_puneet@dnaindia.net