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Nikki Haley calls her mother’s passing on Fourth of July 'symbolic'
The Randhawa family is of Indian origin.
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Pranavi Sharma - Mon, 07, Jul 2025
- 01:24 EDT
- 215
Nikki Haley with her mother Raj Randhawa. / X
Raj Kaur Randhawa, the mother of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, died on July 4. She was 87. Haley confirmed her death in a message posted July 5, calling her “the strongest, most courageous, unafraid woman I have ever known.”
The Randhawa family is of Indian origin. Raj was born in the Punjab region of India and later moved to South Carolina with her husband, Dr. Ajit Singh Randhawa, in 1969. The couple, both highly educated and originally from affluent families in India, raised four children in the small, segregated town of Bamberg.
Haley said her mother’s passing on Independence Day felt symbolic. “She wanted to go out with a bang,” she wrote, adding, “The beauty of it all is that she loved this country and all it gave her, my dad, and family for over 50 years.”
Yesterday, we lost the strongest, most courageous, unafraid woman I have ever known. She was feisty and fun, smart and witty, and deeply faithful and generous. I’m convinced she left us on 4th of July because she wanted to go out with a bang but the beauty of it all is that she… pic.twitter.com/rkhM8P4mh9
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) July 5, 2025
Raj graduated from law school at the University of New Delhi but did not pursue a legal career after moving to the U.S. Haley has often spoken publicly about the challenges her parents faced and the values they instilled in her.
“She was feisty and fun, smart and witty, and deeply faithful and generous,” Haley said in her statement. “I will forever be proud to say I am her daughter. I pray she is now holding hands with my dad once again. I already miss you so much.”
Haley’s father, Dr. Randhawa, died on June 16, 2024—on Father’s Day last year.
During her presidential campaign and in past speeches, Haley frequently referred to her parents’ influence. At a CNN town hall on January 18, 2024, she told the audience, “My parents always told me that, even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”
In her 2012 memoir, Can't Is Not An Option, Haley wrote about her mother’s upbringing near the Golden Temple and the privileges she grew up with in India. “I am the proud daughter of Indian parents who reminded me every day how blessed we were to live in this country,” she wrote.
Haley served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018 and as Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017.
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