Chidambaram claims 'anti-BJP' message in Rishi Sunak becoming UK PM: Why it's a stretch

With Indian-origin Rishi Sunak to become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram has come up with a bizarre inference on Sunday, by making it an issue of 'non-majority citizens', and moreover, drawing a lesson for India based on political gymnastics.

Chidambaram cited Kamala Harris and Rishi Sunak to make a point about the US and UK embracing non-majority citizens. From here he drew a point about parties that practice majoritarianism in India, clearly taking aim at the BJP.

It's interesting to note that Chidambaram's assessment is simplistic to a fault. At least in Rishi Sunak's case, less than 2 months ago he had actually lost an election within his party which chose Liz Truss over him. And even this time around, the word from London was that Boris Johnson would have an edge if the contest went to the Conservative party membership. Additionally, Sunak has yet to achieve electoral success for his party on his own, rather the credit for that still rests with Boris Johnson. The same is true of Kamala Harris who was US Vice President as Joe Biden's running-mate. Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Joe Biden are hardly 'minorities' in any sense of the word in their respective countries.

Sunak becomes new UK PM

Indian-origin Rishi Sunak has become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after contender Penny Mordaunt dropped out from the race, making the road clear for the former to take over as the leader of the Conservative party. Even before Penny Mordaunt dropped out, Rishi Sunak already had the support of 140+ high profile Tory MPs. Tory PM hopefuls require the support of 100 MPs to enter the Prime Ministerial race. The race to become the next Conservative leader began after Liz Truss announced her resignation as UK's Prime Minister.

The Indian-origin Sunak had been the strong favorite as the governing Conservative Party sought stability at a time of immense economic challenges and after months of chaos that consumed the past two leaders. Sunak’s position strengthened after former leader Boris Johnson dropped out of the Conservative Party leadership contest, and the matter was sealed after the only other contender, Penny Mordaunt, dropped out.