Shiv Menon with his mother Sunanda: mystery continues.
The stepson of minister Shashi Tharoor yesterday said his mother’s death was due to stress and the wrong medication and rejected any foul-play surrounding her demise.
Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Tharoor, the federal junior minister for human resource development, was found dead in a Delhi hotel room on Friday. She had sent messages over Twitter on Wednesday that appeared to indicate her husband had an affair with a Pakistani journalist.
Shiv Menon, who is Pushkar’s son from a previous marriage, said in a statement that “her death was peaceful, she passed in her sleep.”
“Anyone who knew my mother would simply know that she was too strong to commit suicide,” Menon said in the statement.
“I also do not believe that Shashi was capable of physically harming her, let alone the speculation that he could have taken her life,” he said. “It was an unfortunate combination of media stress, tensions and a wrong mix of different medication.”
Menon added that Pushkar and Tharoor were “very much in love, despite occasional differences, which they always overcame.”
Menon also requested the media to let his mother’s soul rest in peace.
Menon is Pushkar’s son from her second marriage with Delhi-based financial consultant Sujit Menon.
Authorities have ordered a probe after doctors said the death may have been caused by an overdose of drugs. Local magistrate Alok Sharma directed the police to find out whether the overdose was deliberate or accidental.
Tharoor earlier said he was horrified by the “reckless speculation” in the media about his wife’s death, and wanted a swift inquiry so that the truth could come out.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party said Tharoor should “disassociate” himself from his post until the probe was over.
The NCP, which is part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, clarified it was not asking Tharoor to resign.
“The matter (Pushkar’s death) is serious and investigations are on, and Tharoor has rightly pledged he will co-operate with the investigating agencies. We think Tharoor will himself disassociate from his ministerial responsibility till the investigation is over,” party spokesman D P Tripathi said.
However, the Congress has ruled out Tharoor’s resignation, arguing there was no charge against him.
“There is no charge against (him) of any nature and nobody is alleging any role of Shashi Tharoor. Why should he resign?” said party spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala.
“There is no charge levelled by any political party or organisation or activist,” he added.
