Sunanda Pushkar, wife of the Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in a hotel room in Delhi on Friday night. Police said, the body of 52-year-old Pushkar, an entrepreneur who married Tharoor in 2010, was found in the room in suspicious circumstances.

The Minister's private secretary said that Tharoor and Pushkar were staying in the hotel since Thursday as some painting work was on at their home. He said, when Mr. Tharoor returned from the AICC meet, he found Sunanda dead.

In a Twitter post on Friday evening, Union Minister Shashi Tharoor said he would not be able to attend the Jaipur Literary Festival due to illness of his wife.

Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the sub-divisional magistrate of the area has initiated inquest proceedings. Any death within seven years of marriage is legally required to be investigated by the sub-divisional magistrate.

Pushkar and Tharoor were at the centre of a raging controversy in the last two days, when reports emerged that she was upset over reported text and tweet messages between her husband and a Pakistani journalist. A joint statement from the couple, however, said that they were happily married but distressed by some unauthorised tweets.

The President, the Prime Minister, political leaders and celebrities have also condoled the death of Sunanda Pushkar.