Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here, one of Kerala's largest private super specialty hospitals where union minister Shashi Tharoor's wife underwent a detailed medical examination three days before her death in New Delhi on January 17, said they didn't find any serious ailment.
The doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, who did the autopsy on the 52-year-old, too ruled out any natural cause for her death.
But Pushkar's husband's friends, relatives and Congress leaders in Kerala vehemently hold that she was suffering from lupus, the serious ailment which has no cure.
T.P. Sreenivasan, a former ambassador and Tharoor's close friend, said: "Shashi told me in February about Sunanda's disease. He told me this when I asked why Sunanda did not come to Kerala for some time."
In fact, when he told me she had lupus, I too told him about the two persons who had this ailment. One of them, a niece of mine, died of this when she was just 23 and another friend continued to live with this problem for more than 35 years. I told him this to say that the disease need not be fatal for everyone".
Sreenivasan, who has written a book on Tharoor's political entry, said the minister and Pushkar were quite distraught by the ailment.
"The last time I met Sunanda was last week when she came with Shashi to Thiruvananthapuram for the launch of the UAE Consulate. When I asked about her health, she was in her usual bubbly and happy self. She told me she was not too disturbed by it now".
The former diplomat also said Pushkar was a strong woman and would not even think of committing suicide.
Sreenivasan's wife Lekha said she last met her friend, Sunanda, on January 14 at Sri Padmanabhaswami Temple when she and Tharoor came to attend the Lakshadeepam festival.
Many Congress leaders such as K. Sudhakaran, an MP from Kannur and KPCC spokespersons Rajmohan Unnithan and Ajay Tharayil also said they knew about Pushkar's ailment.
Tharoor's relatives at his ancestral home in Palakkad too said they all knew Pushkar suffered from some serious ailments though they never expected such a sudden end.
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