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London, United Kingdom (UK)
Shivani Raja secured 14,526 votes, defeating Agrawal, the former deputy mayor of London, who got 10,100 votes.
Shivani Raja, of Indian descent, makes history in UK Parliament after winning Leicester East seat. Her oath on the Bhagavad Gita marks a significant political shift
A 29-year-old British-Indian lawmaker on Wednesday took oath on the Bhagavad Gita in the UK Parliament. Elected last week as a Member of Parliament from Leicester East, Tory’s Shivani Raja secured victory over Rajesh Aggarwal, a former deputy mayor of London.
The win was seen as a shock because Leicester East has been known to be a Labour Party stronghold and it is the first time in 37 years that the constituency has elected a Tory. With 14,526 votes to Agrawal’s 10,100, Raja’s win earlier this month ended Labour’s hold on the constituency, making her the first Tory MP elected there since 1987.
Taking to her social media account, Raja expressed deep honour in representing Leicester East and affirmed her allegiance to Britian’s King Charles on the Gita. “It was an honour to be sworn into Parliament today to represent Leicester East. I was truly proud to swear my allegiance to His Majesty King Charles on the Gita,” she said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’.
Raja’s election adds to a diverse cohort of 27 Indian-origin MPs in the House of Commons following the July 4th general election. Raja is of Gujarati origin and hails from Diu. Her parents moved to Leicester from Kenya and India in the late 1970s. She completed her education at De Montfort University, graduating in Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Science, and later worked with several major cosmetics brands in England.
Raja’s win is being seen as a gain in an election where her party has performed poorly winning just 121 seats compared to the landslide victory by Labour. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour clinched a commanding victory, securing 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons—an increase of 211 seats from 2019. Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives suffered a significant setback, winning only 121 seats, down 250 from the previous election.
