Indian-origin Rishi Sunak Becomes First Hindu PM of UK, Profile of Rishi Sunak?

London: Indian-origin Britain’s Conservatiev Party leader Rishi Sunak became UK's prime minister on Monday. He replaced former PM Liz Truss who had earlier won the Conservative Party leadership contest, beating Rishi Sunak to replace the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

Along with being the first Indian-origin UK PM, Sunak now also holds the title of becoming the youngest UK prime minister in modern history at the age of 42 years. He is also a first Non-white and Hindu prime minister of the UK. Sunak is a devout Hindu. 

Sunak won the Tory leadership contest unopposed on Diwali as Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the race. He secured the public backing of over half the 357 Tory MPs – way above the 100 minimum required. 

Earlier today, Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, announced in the Parliament complex that he had received only one nomination and therefore Sunak is the winner of the leadership contest.

Liz Truss is Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister as chaotic six weeks in office ended in her resignation. She stepped down saying she recognises she cannot ‘deliver the mandate’ on which she was elected. 

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Who is Rishi Sunak?

Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak was born in UK's Southampton to an Indian family. The grandparents of the Oxford University and Stanford graduate hail from Punjab. 

He is the son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner father. 

He went to England’s most renowned schools, Winchester, and then Oxford. 

He had a 3-year stint at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and later gained an MBA from Stanford in California. 

He met his wife Akshata Murthy, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy while pursuing his MBA at Stanford University.

Rishi Sunak married Akshata Murthy in 2009 and the couple have two daughters — Anoushka and Krishna.

As a devout Hindu, he took oath as MP on the Bhagavad Gita in the Parliament. 

Sunak frequents Southampton temple and his daughters Anoushka and Krishna are also rooted in the Indian culture. 

He is a Star Wars fan who wanted to grow up to become a Jedi knight. 

Sunak has a net worth of over 700 million pounds. Apart from owning a mansion in Yorkshire, the couple own a property in Kensington in central London.

(With PTI inputs)