Rukshmani Kumari is an Indian politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress. Currently, she is the president of the Rajasthan unit of All India Professionals Congress, which is the professional wing of INC in the state.
Kumari hails from the erstwhile royal family of Chomu Thikana. According to reports, the family has a history of great warriors who have fought for their motherland since the Mughal invasion and British Rule. Post-independence the members have continued to serve in Indian forces in various capacities and ranks.
Kumar was married to Major Aditya Singh, who died in 2011, during Operation Prakram in Kashmir. She is a single parent to her son Maharaj Kumar Prithviraj Singh.
In 2016, she founded the NGO Star Foundation and pledged to support economic and social upliftment of women and child education in Rural Rajasthan and later in other parts of India.
She flagged the Star Shoe Project to distribute shoes in the Government schools of the state, hosted discussions, workshops and counselling parents who refrain and stop their children from attending schools due to various reasons.
The 41-year-old headlined in 2017 for speaking against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama ‘Padmaavat’ starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.
In a statement, Kumari voiced her opposition to any "factual distortion" in the film. "It is completely unnecessary to hurt sentiments, distort history in the name of cinematic liberty," she said.
It was in the same year that Kumar was reported to be spotted in the company of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. An article by Ahmedabad Mirror stated that the duo is said to have been close friends for over two years (since 2015).
Kumari and Tharoor were also spotted to a lit fest in Jaipur, and a fashion show as well.
A day after ‘Padmaavat’ release on January 25, 2018, Kumari assumed office at the All India Professionals Congress, whose chairperson is Tharoor.
Fast forward to 2020, Kumar made waves on Twitter for an old video of Tharoor walking to his car, which she shared in March 2020.
She captioned it as, “There are few leaders who know how to walk on the road and on land, but Shashi Tharoor Sir has a personality who, if delayed by the movement of the train, left for his own car and departed.”
The video appears to have gone viral now after a failed rebellion that originated at a dinner hosted by Shashi Tharoor.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, informal deliberations within the Congress party started at dinner hosted by Tharoor months ago.
Kumari was dragged on social media for her association with Tharoor. She even went on to slam on of the Twitter users and wrote, “Whoever you are! I don’t know. But it’s sad to tweet my picture! Shame on you. I am a mother, daughter, Daughter in law and wife of a martyr. This is the respect you give to the women of your country!! Sad”
