Temple Path: Sunak and Starmer both trying to win over British Hindu voters

In the final campaign weekend before the UK general election on Thursday, both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the man fighting for his job at 10 Downing Street, Labour leader Keir Starmer, have been out on the road trying to woo British Hindu voters.

While Sunak, 44, was at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden on Sunday to pledge that he would continue to try to make the community proud, Starmer, 61, chose another north London Swaminarayan temple in Kingsbury on Friday to make his commitment to reiterate building a strategic partnership with India.

The move follows the first Hindu Manifesto launched by an umbrella organisation of British Hindu organisations in the run-up to the UK general election, calling on elected representatives to take proactive measures to protect Hindu places of worship and tackle anti-Hindu hatred.

“This mandir is a great example of the contributions this community makes to Britain,” Sunak said in his speech at the iconic Neasden Temple, where he offered prayers and asked for blessings from the elders in the gathering.

Education, hard work, family, those are my values. Those are your values. Those are conservative values, he declared in his campaign speech.

Meanwhile, Starmer was welcomed to the tunes of an Indian-Scottish bagpipe band at Kingsbury Temple, where he also began his speech in the same way Sunak did with Jai Swaminarayan.

“If we are elected next week, we will strive to govern in the spirit of Sewa, to serve you and a world in need,” the Labor leader said, repeating an earlier message that in Britain there is absolutely no place for Hinduphobia.

According to the 2021 Census, around 1 million people in Britain identify as Hindu, so this electorate will make up a significant proportion of the general election on 4 July.

“The ‘Hindu Manifesto’ is a call to action for all parliamentary candidates and political parties to engage and support the Hindu community in their constituencies, says the Hindus for Democracy group behind the initiative.

“It highlights the contributions of Hindus to the social, cultural and economic fabric of the United Kingdom and strives for a future where these contributions are recognised, valued, protected and promoted for a better future for all,” the group said.

While the incumbent Sunak-led Tories have fallen behind in all election surveys, it remains to be seen how the diaspora vote will align with Britain’s first Indian Prime Minister in the race this time.

“For the Conservative Party, Rishi Sunak is of course a British Indian leader for the first time. It is an unknown factor how much it will matter to British Indian voters that the party’s leader comes from their background, notes Sunder Katwala, director. from the British Future think tank.

With just days to go until polling day on Thursday, both leaders are expected to conduct a so-called campaign blitz, visiting various parts of the UK, including other places of worship, in a bid to secure the remaining undecided votes.

First print: June 30, 2024 | 10:59 PM IST