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‘For me it’s dharma’: Rishi Sunak on becoming UK Prime Minister

‘For me it’s dharma’: Rishi Sunak on becoming UK Prime Minister

Sunak, who took in MONTH, was questioned about his choice to accept the difficult position in the middle of a crisis involving rising living expenses and political uncertainty in the country.

Last year, he took a detour from his leadership campaign to celebrate Janmashtami Last year, he took a detour from his leadership campaign to celebrate Janmashtami

In a television interview with Piers Morgan to commemorate his 100th day in office as Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak discussed his rationale for taking on the post at 10 Downing Street during a period of political uncertainty last year He described it as his "dharma," according to PTI.


He was questioned throughout the interview about his choice to accept the difficult position in the middle of a crisis involving rising living expenses and his predecessor Liz Truss' limited 45-day tenure as prime minister.


“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 was quoted as saying by PTI.


The 42-year-old has frequently mentioned how his Hindu faith gives him strength. He took his oath of loyalty in the House of Commons on the "Bhagavad Gita" after being elected as a member of Parliament.


Last year, he took a detour from his leadership campaign to celebrate Janmashtami by visiting a Hare Krishna temple in London. He described his wife Akshata, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, as his support system in a recent interview and said he was "lucky" to have her as his partner. He told her about the time he got down on one knee and proposed to her romantically and thanked her for helping him out at work.


"I wouldn't be able to do this job without her love and support to keep going," he said. Asked about the "mantra" the British public could cling 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 also queried him about his personal wealth and he restated a previous vow to share his tax records for the sake 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 said. On the wave of public sector pay strikes, Sunak stated he would "love to give the nurses a large salary hike," but that he couldn't because it would cause inflation. “Even if it’s not popular, it’s the right thing for the country to stay the course to beat inflation,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

Also Read: Low annual limit of 85,000 H-1B visas hitting US employers hard, says study

Published on: Feb 04, 2023, 2:43 PM IST
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