Sitharaman met her husband, economist and commentator Parakala Prabhakar, who is from Narsapuram, Andhra Pradesh, while studying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.[42] While Nirmala leaned towards the BJP, her husband is from a Congress family.[43] They married in 1986, and have a daughter who previously worked for The Hindu and the Mint.[44] Prabhakar served as the communications advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh from 2014 to 2018.