Indian-origin Shivani Raja has become the first Conservative MP to win the Leicester East seat in 37 years. To celebrate this victory, a symbolic swearing-in ceremony was held on July 10, in which she took an oath of allegiance to the UK Parliament on the holy Bhagavad Gita.
“It is an honour to be sworn in to Parliament today to represent Leicester East,” the Gujarati businessman wrote in a post on Instagram. “I am really proud to have sworn my allegiance to His Majesty King Charles on the Gita.”
It was an honour to be sworn in at Parliament today to represent Leicester East.
I was really proud of Gita for swearing its allegiance to His Majesty King Charles.#leicestereast pic.twitter.com/l7hogSSE2C
— Shivani Raja MP (@ShivaniRaja_LE) July 10, 2024
Ms Raja’s swearing-in ceremony was praised on the Internet.
A user commented on his post, “Bhagavad Gita will inspire you to rule in the best way.”
Bhagavad Gita will inspire you to rule in the best way.
— Indian Retail Investments (@IndianInve10186) July 10, 2024
Another said, “Shivani, well done. Also nice to see you giving due respect to our holy scriptures.”
Shivani, very nice. It is also good to see that you have given due respect to our holy scriptures. ????
— K Dudakia (@kk_OEG) July 10, 2024
Someone said it was nice to see him “being proud of his religion and culture.”
Shivani ji, it was great to see you taking oath on the Gita. Being proud of your religion and culture ????
— Vaddepally Praveen ???????? ????️ (@VaddepallyPrav) July 10, 2024
Shivani Raja’s landmark win broke the Labour Party’s 37-year hold on the constituency. 29-year-old Shivani secured 14,526 votes and defeated Labour’s Rajesh Aggarwal, who got just 10,100 votes. The constituency saw a close contest between several high-profile candidates, including former MPs Claude Webb and Keith Vaz, who contested as an independent.
In her post-election statement Ms King acknowledged the enormity of the task ahead, saying: “It really is time for change, and that change will turn Leicester blue.”
It really is time for a change…and that change is Leicester turning blue???? pic.twitter.com/XTYqbdFxXU
— Shivani Raja MP (@ShivaniRaja_LE) July 7, 2024
In the recent UK elections, the Labour Party won 411 seats, while the Conservative Party was reduced to just 121 seats. The Liberal Democrats won 72 seats, and the Scottish National Party won nine seats.
In Northern Ireland Sinn Féin won seven seats, and the Democratic Unionist Party won five.