Indian-origin Shivani Raja, a 29-year-old businesswoman of Gujarati descent, has taken oath in the UK Parliament on the Bhagavad Gita.
Shivani secured a historic victory in the Leicester East seat for the Conservative Party, ending the Labour Party’s 37-year dominance in the constituency. She was contesting against fellow Indian-origin Labour candidate Rajesh Agrawal.
Soon after taking the oath as a Britain MP, Shivani took to X and wrote: “It was an honour to be sworn into Parliament today to represent Leicester East. I was truly proud to swear my allegiance to His Majesty King Charles on the Gita”.
Shivani’s victory was notable given Leicester City’s recent history of conflict between the Indian Hindu community and Muslims following the India vs Pakistan T20 Asia Cup match in 2022.
Shivani Raja secured 14,526 votes, defeating Agrawal, the former deputy mayor of London, who got 10,100 votes.
The victory was significant as Leicester East has been a Labour bastion since 1987. Shivani’s win marked the first time in 37 years that the constituency has elected a Tory.
Apart from Shivani, 27 other Indian-origin members of Parliament have been elected to the House of Commons in the July 4 general election in the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, hundreds of newly elected lawmakers trooped excitedly into Parliament after the UK’s transformative election brought a Labour government to power.
The new House of Commons includes the largest number of women ever elected — 263, some 40 per cent of the total — and the most lawmakers of color, at 90.
Keir Starmer became UK’s new Prime Minister and vowed to rebuild Britain, hours after his Labour Party secured a landslide victory in a general election.
The Labour Party secured 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, up 211 from the last election in 2019. Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives won just 121 seats, down 250 seats from the previous election. While the Labour had a vote share of 33.7 per cent the Conservatives had 23.7 per cent.
In his farewell speech, Sunak was filled with emotion as he apologised to the voters who had delivered the party led by him a hammering at the ballot box.
“Yours is the only judgment that matters. I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this lossâ€æ Following this result, I will step down as party leader, not immediately, but once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place,” he had said.
Vikram Sharma is a globe-trotting journalist with a global perspective on international events. His articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing insights into the world’s most pressing challenges.
