Rishi Sunak, a devout Hindu, swore oath on Bhagavad Gita when elected MP

London: Rishi Sunak impressive political comeback in British politics to become the first Indian-origin prime minister has been observed with much pride by India.

Sunak, 42, was elected Conservative Party leader on Monday, marking a very special Diwali for the former Chancellor of Exchequer who will enter 10 Downing Street to be the youngest British prime minister in 210 years after his audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Sunak, whose parents--retired doctor Yashvir and pharmacist Usha Sunak-- are of Indian descent and had migrated from Kenya to the UK in the 1960s, is married to Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy's daughter Akshata Murthy. They have two daughters. Sunak was born in Southampton on May 12, 1980.

His grandparents originated from British India but their birthplace Gujranwala lies in modern day Pakistan's Punjab province.

Sunak, a Stanford and Oxford University graduate, was elected Member of Parliament from the Tory stronghold of Richmond in Yorkshire in 2015. He quickly rose up the party ranks from junior ministerial posts to Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The devout Hindu former minister, who swore his oath of allegiance on being elected MP in the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita, also found time for darshan at a temple during the course of the long campaign and had members of the Indian diaspora praying for his success.

This gift is a special blessing all the way from India, said Amita Mishra, Trustee of Shree Jagannatha Society UK who handed him a set of gold-plated deities amid chants of a victory shloka from the Bhagavad Gita'.

Sunak has said that the Gita comes to his rescue during tough situations and reminds him of his responsibilities.

There has now been an answer to those victory prayers, with Sunak grabbing the win that was narrowly snatched away not long ago.

India-UK ties

Sunak's vision for India-UK bilateral ties has gone beyond the opportunity for the UK to sell things in India, wanting Britain to also "learn from India".

During the campaign in the previous Tory leadership contest, the former investment banker had said he wants to change the UK-India relationship to make it more of a two-way exchange that opens up easy access to UK students and companies in India.

After the dramatic exit of former prime minister Boris Johnson on Sunday and Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt conceding defeat, unable to meet the 100-MPs mark in time for the shortlist deadline, Sunak's historic milestone as the country's first non-white prime minister was all but sealed.

Sunak lost the race for prime ministership to fellow Conservative leader Liz Truss on September 5. Truss stepped down last Thursday after 45 days in office.

As the third premier in the space of just seven weeks after Johnson's partygate exit and Liz Truss' mini-budget fiasco, the road ahead is anything but smooth for the new leader, who faces the uphill task of rescuing an economy in turmoil and uniting a deeply divided Conservative Party.

Issues galore for new PM

Sunak will be moving into 10 Downing Street at a time when Britain is facing a triple whammy of slowing growth, high inflation triggered by spiralling energy prices in the wake of the Ukraine war and a budget shortfall that has eroded its financial credibility internationally.

He will have no option but to raise tax rates and make spending cuts that will be unpopular and may have unforeseen political consequences.

Last month, his meteoric rise within the Tory ranks hit new heights as he concluded his spirited run setting his eyes once again on the prime ministership.

His close allies and the #Ready4Rishi campaign team never ruled out another go at the party leadership, while the father of two school-going daughters--Krishna and Anoushka--took some time out for family.

I want to make sure that it's easy for our students to also travel to India and learn, that it's also easy for our companies and Indian companies to work together because it's not just a one-way relationship, it's a two-way relationship, and that's the type of change I want to bring to that relationship, he had said while outlining his vision for Indo-UK ties.

The greatest sacrifice I have made is that I have been an appalling husband and father for the past couple of years, it's as simple as that, replied Sunak, to a question about running to become the UK's first non-white Prime Minister.

That is something that is really hard for me because I love my kids, I love my wife, and unfortunately I have not been able to be as present in their lives at all in the past few years as I would have liked to have been," he said at the final hustings in Wembley, London, last month.

It was their example of service and what they did for people that inspired me to enter politics, he said about his parents.

This strong family spirit remained at the heart of Sunak's leadership bid, from being the favourite among his party colleagues through to the final stages of voting.

My father-in-law came from absolutely nothing, just had a dream and a couple of hundred pounds that my mother-in-law's savings provided him, and with that he went on to build one of the world's largest, most respected, most successful companies that by the way employs thousands of people here in the United Kingdom, he said, during one of the early TV debates in a fightback against attacks on his wife's Infosys wealth.

(With PTI inputs.)