Actor Poonam Kaur, 36, has been at the receiving end of flak on social media after a picture circulated of her holding the hand of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the latter’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Telangana. BJP leader Priti Singh tweeted a picture of the duo, captioning it “Following the footsteps of his great grand father!!” in an apparent reference to India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Priti Gandhi’s comment has drawn a barrage of criticism from Congress leaders. Jairam Ramesh as well as Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate have lashed out against Gandhi post her comment.

Who is Poonam Kaur?

Poonam Kaur was born on October 21, 1986. She is an Indian actress who has been working in the Tamil and Telugu film industries since 2006. Her parents are Late Beep Singh and Bharain Kaur.

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Poonam Kaur was born in Hyderabad. She attended Hyderabad Public School before joining the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi.

Kaur’s Telugu debut came in the film Mayajalam, in which she was credited as Deepa. In the same year, she starred in another film, Oka `V` Chitram, directed by Teja.

In 2007, the actress made her debut in Tamil cinema with the venture Nenjirukkum Varai. She has subsequently worked in the Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi film industries.

Kaur was in the news in 2019 for her visit to the Katas Raj temple in Pakistan, from where she had tweeted, “Prayed at my most awaited #shiva temples today, never thought will be able perform Pooja across the border, wishing for it to be revived and renovated…”

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Kaur, who is a member of the Congress Party, later explained the reason behind her holding Rahul Gandhi’s hand after the picture went viral. She said in a reply to Priti Gandhi’s tweet, “This is absolutely demeaning of you , remember prime minister spoke about #narishakti – I almost slipped and toppled that’s how sir held my hand .”