‘Britain has outgrown racism’: In praise for Sunak, Tharoor's message for BJP

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said Rishi Sunak rising to the ranks of British Prime Minister is extraordinary at multiple levels. The Kerala MP, who has spent several years in the UK, said it is proof that the country had outgrown racism, while hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in India.

“It's extraordinary at multiple levels. You can see that Britain has outgrown their racism, shown tremendous willingness to absorb and admit people of other religious faiths and on top of that they've looked at their merit,” said Tharoor on the appointment of Rishi Sunak as UK PM.

The Opposition leader drew comparison with the BJP government in India and said the ruling camp does not have a single Muslim MP in Parliament.

“We should be prepared to look beyond some of the considerations of the caste, religion and class and language and region. What the country should reward is merit.”

“A party like BJP which doesn't have a single Muslim MP in Parliament today, which is a shocking situation that's never been there in past. Can supporters of BJP imagine a PM of another background or a BJP CM from either Islamic or Christian faiths? I doubt it,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

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Known to be a fierce critic of British colonialism, Tharoor had welcomed Sunak's achievement as a politician in the UK in a tweet. “I think all of us will have to acknowledge that the Brits have done something very rare in the world, to place a member of a visible minority in the most powerful office,” he wrote.