Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and governor of Andhra Pradesh, N D Tiwari, who was dragged to court by a young man who claimed to be his biological son, today finally accepted him as his son, putting an end to a prolonged legal battle on the issue.
"I accept him (Rohit) as my son. It was already proved two years ago when my DNA matched with his. I am proud of my association with this great family. Whatever it has been, I want to put the matter at rest and publicly accept him as my biological son," said Tiwari.
Dr Ujjwala Sharma said that she along with her son Rohit Shekhar met N D Tiwari at Uttarakhand Sadan on Sunday. During the meeting, Tiwari acknowledged Rohit as his son, she said.
"I had come to know from his associates that he had come to Delhi for a routine check up at AIIMS. I went to meet him," said Sharma.
"He said he was tired of fighting and even I could feel the stress and the emotional upheaval he was going through. I told him that even Rohit was suffering. It was then that he expressed his desire to meet Rohit," Sharma said.
At around 11.30 pm, Rohit met Tiwari. Tiwari hugged him and spoke to him a long time, for the first time in years. The meeting went on till 2.30 am.
"I am happy that ND Tiwari has finally accepted the fact that I am his son. We would have anyway won the case on April 21," said Rohit.
Doctors from AIIMS confirmed that the 89-year old had gone there on Saturday for a routine check up.
"Tiwari is a follow up patient of AIIMS and was admitted here for a short time for monitoring of his general condition. He is a cardiac patient. He underwent routine investigation and several blood tests," said a senior doctor.
Tiwari visited AIIMS radiodiagnosis department today also for some tests which could not be completed on Saturday.
Rohit Shekhar had approached court against Tiwari in 2008, claiming he was born out of an affair between the Congress leader and his mother.
In 2012, Mr Tiwari was forced to give samples of his DNA for a paternity test which established Tiwari as Shekhar's biological father.
Image: Congress leader ND Tiwari poses with Rohit Shekhar, during his childhood days
Photographs: Courtesy: Rohit Shekhar