Felt it was my ‘dharma’ to take over as UK PM: Rishi Sunak

The 42-year-old, who swore his oath of allegiance on being elected member of Parliament within the House of Commons on the ‘Bhagavad Gita’, has usually spoken about his Hindu religion giving him energy.

New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 4, 2023 01:03 IST

New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak waves after arriving at Downing Street in London (Photo: AP)

By Press Trust of India: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has spoken of his motivation behind taking up the highest job at 10 Downing Street within the wake of intense political turmoil final yr as his “dharma”. In a televised interview with ‘Talk TV’ host Piers Morgan at his Downing Street residence to mark 100 days within the job as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister on Thursday, he was requested what made him tackle the powerful job amid a crippling cost-of-living disaster and his predecessor Liz Truss’ shortest time period as Prime Minister at simply 45 days.

“For me it’s about duty. There’s a concept in Hinduism called dharma, which roughly translates into duty and that’s how I was raised. It was about doing the things that were expected of you and trying to do the right thing,” he replied.

“Even though it was going to be a nightmare job… I felt that I could make a difference and was the best person to make a difference at that moment, especially given the challenges that people were facing, what they were seeing with their mortgages and that’s ultimately why I put myself forward to do it knowing that it would be difficult and challenging but ultimately doing what was my duty in that situation. I believe deeply in service and thought I could make a difference for the country,” he mentioned.

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The 42-year-old, who swore his oath of allegiance on being elected member of Parliament within the House of Commons on the ‘Bhagavad Gita’, has usually spoken about his Hindu religion giving him energy. The UK-born son of National Health Service (NHS) physician Yashveer and pharmacist Usha has spoken of standard visits the temple together with his household and through final yr’s management marketing campaign, he took trip to make a go to to a Hare Krishna temple on the outskirts of London for Janmashtami to hunt blessings.

In the wide-ranging interview this week, he additionally referred to his spouse Akshata – the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy – as his help system and admitted he was “batting above his average” together with her as his life associate. He revealed how he romantically proposed to her, taking place on one knee, and praised “the support that she gives me in this job”.

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“I wouldn’t be able to do this job without her love and support to keep going,” he mentioned. Asked concerning the “mantra” the British public might cling on to, he added: “Have hope because I can make it better and I will make it better. That’s what I am working day and night to do.” Morgan additionally requested him about his private wealth and he repeated a earlier dedication to publish his tax returns within the curiosity of “transparency”.

“They [tax returns] will be published shortly. As you know the tax filing deadline was just a few days ago… they will be released shortly,” he mentioned. On the wave of public sector strikes over pay, Sunak mentioned he would “love to give the nurses a massive pay rise” however identified that he couldn’t, as doing so would stoke inflation. “Even if it’s not popular, it’s the right thing for the country to stay the course to beat inflation,” he mentioned.

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Published On:

Feb 4, 2023