WATCH | UK PM candidate Rishi Sunak performs 'gau pooja' in London
Premium- The video of gau pooja came days after Rishi Sunak visited Bhaktivedanta Manor on the outskirts of London to celebrate Janmashtami festival
Rishi Sunak, one of the two candidates vying to replace Boris Johnson as British prime minister was seen performing 'gau pooja' (worshipping of a cow) in London.
In the video, Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Infosys founder NR Narayanamurthy can be seen performing an aarti (religious ceremony) in front of the cow. A priest standing next to the couple hands diya (earthern lamp) to Sunak as they perform the ritual and seek blessing from the cow.
The video of gau pooja came days after Sunak visited Bhaktivedanta Manor on the outskirts of London to celebrate Janmashtami festival. The manor, on its official Instagram page, wrote that Rishi Sunak talked about the Bhagavad Gita and how it gives him strength.
"Today I visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with my wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami, in advance of the popular Hindu festival celebrating Lord Krishna's birthday," Sunak wrote on Twitter while sharing a picture of himself in the temple.
The 42-year-old UK-born Indian-origin Tory MP for Richmond in Yorkshire said that he wants to change the UK-India relationship to make it a more two-way exchange that opens up easy access to UK students and companies in India.
During a campaign hustings event hosted by the Conservative Friends of India (CFIN), Sunak greeted the largely British Indian gathering with a mix of traditional greetings such as “namaste, salaam, khem cho, and kidda".
He even broke into Hindi: “Aap sab mere parivar ho (you all are my family)."
Sunak who has served as Britain's finance minister between February 2020 and July 2022 in Boris Johnson's government, is fighting against Foreign Secretary Liz Truss--another candidate in the UK's PM race.
As of now Sunak is trailing UK Foreign secretary Liz Truss in most survey
The sum of Opinium, YouGov, and Conservative Home surveys is that Truss is set to win by a margin roughly between 70-30 and 60-40 - perhaps a bit higher, perhaps a bit lower.
The result of the crucial vote to decide the next British Prime Minister is due on September 5.
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