Shashi Tharoor opens up on Sunanda Pushkar' death, shares heartache of losing wife

Senior Congress leader and parliamentarian from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor has opened up on the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar for the first time. Sharing the pang of heartache he has been hiding, Tharoor termed wife Sunanda’s death a “tragedy” that struck him hard.

"Sunanda's death was a tragedy that struck me, I saw my 80-year-old mother weeping on television," Tharoor said in an interview with India TV.

Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room of Delhi on January 17, 2014. In the chargesheet filed by Delhi police, Tharoor is the only person arrayed as an accused in the case. The Congress leader, however, reiterated that he had not done anything wrong.

“I have a clear conscience. I have not done anything wrong. ..I did not slap my two naughty boys even once, even though they sometimes deserved to..I saw my 80-year-old mother weeping on TV. In my entire life, I had promised myself never to go to any police station or court, but this happened,” Tharoor said in the interview.

Also Read | Piyush Goyal criticises Shashi Tharoor's 'foreign accent'; Congress MP hits back

The former Union minister said that it was very difficult time for him to deal with the sudden demise of his wife and “motivated” allegations but truth remained his strength during the testing times.

“It was very difficult. Satya meri shakti hai (Truth has been my power). I decided, why should I allow them to define me. I will be my own self and stay as strong as I can,” he said.

Reacting to the police’s chargesheet, Tharoor said that it was “motivated prosecution” and he will fight the case in the court.

“It is a motivated prosecution. Let police prove in court if it is a case of suicide. ..Sunanda never said that I did anything against her, never. All these matters are before the court. I am contesting this in court. I want to clear myself before the court, hence I would refrain from speaking here,” he added.

Also Read | Shashi Tharoor rakes up another controversy, says ‘safer to be cow than Muslim'