Thousands of kilometres away, there is an atmosphere of celebration in Kanpur and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh due to the huge victory of the Labour Party candidate in the UK general elections.
Navendu Mishra, who was elected to the House of Commons for the second consecutive time from Stockport constituency, was born in Kanpur in 1989. His mother’s ancestral home is in Gorakhpur.
Mr Mishra’s maternal uncle Nilendar Pandey, a social activist and businessman who now lives in Lucknow, told PTI that some people in Gorakhpur, Lucknow and Kanpur celebrated his victory by distributing sweets and bursting firecrackers.
Mr Pandey said Mr Mishra moved to the UK with his parents when he was four years old. His father was a marketing manager at Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd and moved to the UK after taking over a British company.
Mr Mishra grew up in the UK with his brother and sister.
He entered politics after completing his studies in London and was elected to the House of Commons on a Labour Party ticket from Stockport in the 2019 elections.
It is an honour to be officially nominated as the Labour Party candidate for the Stockport constituency.
Since 2019 I have always put the needs of local residents first. If re-elected I will continue to work hard for Brinnington, Edgeley, Devonport, Heatons and Reddish. pic.twitter.com/Ctv1CHn58F
— Navendu Mishra (@NavPMishra) June 5, 2024
Mr. Pandey said that Mr. Mishra came into politics through the trade union movement.
Mr Pandey said Mr Mishra was very close to him and his nephew had called him to seek his blessings after winning the election.
“He (Mishra) loves to visit India. He is always eager to do something for his country,” Mr Pandey said. “He visits India once every year or two and visits his relatives from Gorakhpur to Delhi. He is a vegetarian and loves home-cooked food popular in eastern Uttar Pradesh,” he added.
Praising his nephew, Pandey said, “You can judge his popularity from the margin of his victory. In Britain, where elections are won by a margin of just 1,000-2,000 votes, Mishra won by around 16,000 votes.”
Mr Mishra received 21,787 votes out of the total votes cast. His nearest rival, Reform UK candidate Lynn Schofield, received 6,517 votes.
Mr Pandey said Mr Mishra returned to India for the first time after spending nearly seven years in Britain and spent some time at his grandparents’ house in Gorakhpur.
“Mishra used to fly kites and play cricket in the streets with local children, including my two sons and daughter. My children are also very happy with his victory,” he said.
During his recent visit to India, Mr Mishra along with a delegation met Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The delegation also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Delhi.
Mr. Pandey said that after this he spent time with his family in Delhi and Lucknow.
Political experts claimed that Mr Mishra’s victory and his connection with India will strengthen bilateral ties and cultural, political and social ties between the two countries.
Mr Pandey said Mr Mishra had also planned to visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya, but that programme could not take place.
“Mishra was inspired to join politics and social service by his maternal uncle Nilendar Pandey,” Mr Pandey’s colleague in Gorakhpur, Ishwar Singh, told PTI.
He said, “When he used to come to Gorakhpur as a young man, he used to see crowds of people gathering to meet Pandey and was inspired by it.”
Mr Mishra’s ancestral home in Arya Nagar, Kanpur was also thronged by locals who had gathered to congratulate the family on their second consecutive electoral victory.
Mr. Mishra last came to his family home in Arya Nagar about two years ago.
On Friday, Keir Starmer became Britain’s new prime minister after his Labour Party won a landslide victory in the general election, with weary voters delivering a “grim verdict” to the Rishi Sunak-led Conservative Party.
The Labour Party won 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons. Mr Sunak’s Conservative Party won just 121 seats.
Discussing the plan to invite his nephew to India, Mr Pandey said, “We have invited Mishra to come here soon and a reception will be organised in Lucknow after his arrival.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
