<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Can-do Hindu</h2>

The tension was high yesterday as the 2pm deadline approached. There were just two people left in the Conservative leadership race. Rishi Sunak already had the support of over 100 MPs; could Penny MordauntA British Conservative politician who ran to be leader twice in 2022. also reach that number, and push the contest to another round? At last the announcement came: Mordaunt had accepted defeat - Sunak would be the new prime minister.

It was a historic moment. Sunak will be the first person of Asian origin to hold Britain's highest political office - and, as a Hindu, the first prime minister to have sworn an oath of allegiance on the Bhagavad GitaOne of the holy scriptures of Hinduism, which contains many of the religion's main doctrines. .

"I am thoroughly British," he has said: "this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu."

Sunak has told of how both his father's and his mother's parents left PunjabA state in northern India, bordering Pakistan. and moved first to Africa and then to Britain.

One grandfather worked as a clerk in Kenya and the other as a tax official in TanganyikaA state that existed between 1961 and 1964. Today, most of its land is part of Tanzania. . They took their families to England in the 1960s.  

His mother was a pharmacist and his father a doctor. They raised their three children in Southampton, where Rishi helped out in his mother's shop.

Rishi won a place at one of Britain's leading private schools, Winchester College, but his parents had to make big sacrifices to pay the fees. He ended up as head boy, because - according to a friend - "he was clever enough, reasonable enough and well behaved enough".

He went on to study at Oxford, where friends noted that he did not eat beef and did not drink alcohol, and later at Stanford University in California. There he met his wife Akshata, the daughter of an Indian IT billionaire.

He became the MP for Richmond in Yorkshire in 2015. In 2020, Boris Johnson appointed him as chancellor of the Exchequer, and he was widely praised for masterminding Britain's furloughThis used to be a word for a permitted absence, and refers to the scheme where the government subsidised the wages of those who could not work during the lockdown. The cost of the scheme is estimated at almost 40bn. scheme. 

But his popularity declined when it was revealed that his wife had non-domiciled statusA tax status under British law which means that a person who lives in the UK can state that their permanent home is abroad. They pay tax in the UK on UK income but not on foreign income. , allowing her to avoid around £20m in British taxes. The couple have been named as the 222^nd richest people in the UK, worth £730m.¹

Sunak was a strong supporter of Brexit. He must hope that, with his connections in India and the US, he can make advantageous trade deals with those countries.

Yes: That is why Britain is so keen to strengthen ties with it. It is the world's fastest-growing major economy, well-placed for trade with Europe, Asia and Africa. It is also a nuclear power.

No: More than 20% of India's enormous population live in poverty. There is also a huge divide, made worse by President Modi, between Hindus and Muslims. It cannot become a superpower with those problems.

Or... Some countries' biggest export is their talent. Sunak may never have become so successful if his grandparents had remained in India: it does not offer its own people enough opportunities.

Penny Mordaunt - A British Conservative politician who ran to be leader twice in 2022.

Bhagavad Gita - One of the holy scriptures of Hinduism, which contains many of the religion's main doctrines. 

Punjab - A state in northern India, bordering Pakistan.

Tanganyika - A state that existed between 1961 and 1964. Today, most of its land is part of Tanzania.

Furlough - This used to be a word for a permitted absence, and refers to the scheme where the government subsidised the wages of those who could not work during the lockdown. The cost of the scheme is estimated at almost 40bn.

Non-domiciled status - A tax status under British law which means that a person who lives in the UK can state that their permanent home is abroad. They pay tax in the UK on UK income but not on foreign income.