Can’t look at Rishi Sunak as an Indian in 10 Downing Street, says Congress MP Shashi Tharoor

Rishi Sunak has succeeded Liz Truss as the Prime Minister of UK, with a promise to lead a government that will not leave the next generation with a debt to settle, restore trust and lead the nation into the future.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Shashi Tharoor, Lok Sabha MP from Congress said Sunak’s rise is extraordinary at multiple levels.

"Rishi Sunak’s rise is extraordinary at multiple levels. It is extraordinary in terms of the fact that he is a descendent of immigrants, has a different ethnicity and race from the majority of British people, so it is a remarkable achievement," Tharoor said.

"He was elected for the first time in 2015 and within 3 years he was a parliamentary undersecretary, within 5 years he was finance minister and now within 7 years he is Prime Minister. You cannot imagine such a narrative in India," he continued.

"In India he would have been lucky at the end of 7 years to be having moved up from back benchers to being an MoS or something but otherwise he would be a backbencher. So for us these are all very valuable lessons which we can learn where a country like Britain was able to do this,” he added.

Sunak is the youngest UK Prime Minister in 200 years. He was born on 12th may, 1980 in Southampton.

Tharoor said we should not look at Sunak as an Indian in 10 Downing Street.

"Rishi Sunak has a close link with India but policies are made in interest of your own country, so his loyalties have to be with Britain. So there will be a certain affinity or certain friendship towards India but I don’t think it will be right for us to expect that policies would be made by any British Prime Minister merely to sort of be nice to the country of his origin, he said.

"So we must give Rishi Sunak his space as a British Prime Minister and not keep pushing him as an Indian who happens to be in 10 Downing Street."

Putting the economy on track will be a daunting task for Sunak with UK staring at a recession and the economy likely to contract in Q4. Inflation is in double digits at 10.1 percent, highest in 40 years, the high energy bills and rising food costs are a big concern for people. He is likely to unveil his economic plans on October 31.

Tharoor added that Sunak is likely to face more challenges from his own party than from the Labour Party.

"The political challenge for Sunak is really within his own party much more than from the Labour Party. Some of the traditionalists among the Conservative Party who would probably never fully feel that Rishi Sunak is British enough for them, would be lying in wait for some sort of mistake so that they can go for the jugular."

"Liz Truss’s resignation was something the Conservative Party demanded because it is was a price of their survival but Rishi Sunak will be held to the standards of if you are able to do a good enough job on the economy that most of us have a chance of being re-elected then we will back you all the way,” Tharoor said.