Rishi Sunak: How a person of Indian origin reached the post of British PM

Zubair Ahmed, BBC correspondent, London

Be it Mauritius, Guyana, Ireland, Portugal or Fiji, there is a long list of leaders of Indian origin who have been either Prime Minister or President of many countries like these. There is no other country in the world other than India whose people of origin either rule or have ruled more than 30 countries.

42-year-old Rishi Sunak’s name has been added to this list. Conservative leader Penny Mordant has withdrawn her candidacy. Sunak had earlier lost to his rival Liz Truss.

Rishi Sunak of Indian origin has risen very rapidly in British politics. He won the Parliament election for the first time in 2015, at the age of 35. In just seven years, he is now going to become the Prime Minister. He will be Britain’s first Indian-origin and black-race Prime Minister.

Virendra Sharma, 75, MP from the opposition Labor Party, knows Rishi Sunak very well. Both are also Indian-origin MPs and their wires connect to Punjab. About the sage, he says, “Today we have come to such a level that the communities that exist here, the political situation here, have become part of the society. So today the diaspora (of Indian origin) who are economically ), we currently have close to 40 Asian and Black race MPs in politics.

history has become

Many experts say that Rishi’s becoming the Prime Minister will be a historic moment, just like it happened in the US in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President. Even before Rishi Sunak, leaders of South Asian origin have come to great positions. He has also become a minister and mayor as well, like Priti Patel is the home minister of this country and Sadiq Khan is the mayor of London.

But till now no one had been a contender for the post of Prime Minister. According to political analysts, the rise of the sage is linked to the success of Asian communities. He says that diversity in British society is also due to the rise of leaders like Rishi.

Dr Neelam Raina teaches at Middlesex University. She says, “It will be historical because religious and ethnic minority communities are far more represented in Parliament than in India. But it will be historical because they have different racial identities.”

Rishi is the third generation of Indian origin. His grandparents had migrated to East Africa from the city of Gujranwala in Pakistani Punjab before the partition of India. After many years, he settled in the city of Southampton, England, where Rishi Sunak was born in 1980. He grew up in this city.

Counted among Britain’s richest

The common belief in Britain is that Rishi Sunak is very wealthy, which has become the main reason for his distance from the common people. According to a recent survey, they are counted among the 250 richest families in Britain. But was he born rich?

This information could be found only in Southampton where he spent his childhood after his birth. We met many people there who knew him since childhood and are still in touch with him today.

The Vedic Society Temple is a large Hindu community temple in Southampton whose founders include the family members of the sage Sunak. His childhood passed around this temple where he received the education of Hinduism. Naresh Sonchatla, 75, has known Rishi Sunak since childhood. He says, “Sage Sunak used to visit the temple since he was a small child, accompanied by his parents and grandparents”.

Sanjay Chandarana is an important position in the corporate world. He is also the President of the Vedic Society Hindu Mandir. He met the sage only recently when he had come to the temple last month. In the temple, he met all the people of the community.

Recalling that meeting, Sanjay says, “He was making rotis, rounds were being made, so I asked him that you cook food at home? So in response he said that yes I like to cook. We asked him that if you are a student of child development (in this temple) would like to meet the children here, he said yes, and he went there.”

His father Yashveer Sunak is a doctor and mother Usha Sunak used to run a chemist shop till recently. He still lives in this city. The sages are among those following such a simple, religious Hindu religion. The emphasis is more on studies and career in the family. That is why his father taught him in a private school.

How was your work as finance minister?

On his website, he writes, “My parents made a lot of sacrifices so that I could go to good schools. I was fortunate enough to study at Winchester College, Oxford University and Stanford University.”

Rishi married Akshata Murthy, daughter of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, in Bangalore in 2009. Now they also have two children. His wife is said to be the owner of most of his declared £730 million worth of assets. Rishi is self-made, he says in his website: “I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a successful business career. I co-founded a large investment firm with companies ranging from Silicon Valley to Bangalore. is working.”

Rishi Sunak became the Finance Minister of the country just before the Corona epidemic. This was a big achievement for him because the post of Finance Minister is considered to be the second highest post in Britain after the post of Prime Minister. He performed very well in this position, due to which many people want to see him as the Prime Minister. He has held the second highest post of the country in the capacity of Finance Minister.