As the Indian-origin Rishi Sunak yesterday was declared the leader of the Conservative Party, all eyes are on Akshata Murthy, the fashion designer whom Sunak got married to in 2009.
India is a country that searches even far-away relationships to make connections to the people of country-origin. And when it comes to the Prime Minister of the UK, all eyes must search for the ‘India connection’, that makes Rishi Sunak the quintessential ‘Ghar Ka Damad’ (son-in-law).
As the clocks yesterday ticked at 6.30 pm (IST) and Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the race, apart from the citizens of the UK and the members of the conservative party, there were millions more who poured into the streets to celebrate his unopposed victory. Thousands miles away, lights and crackers of Diwali became more vibrant, even at the cost of environment, to rejoice over the anointment of their ‘son-in-law’ to one of the most powerful positions in the world.
While Sunak’s status as a devout Hindu has been floated along with his Indian-origin to get an ‘almost Indian’ image out of him, the closest knot that he has with our country lies in Akshata Murthy, wife of Sunak and the daughter of business tycoon and the founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy. Herself a renowned designer with wealth worth of $700 million, notably, more than the personal wealth of late Queen Elizabeth II, Akshata has been in the centre of discussions since Sunak started his first lap of race after the former PM Boris Johnson resigned.
In the backdrop, it is the high time to look at who is Akshata? How did she fall in love with Rishi Sunak? What are the controversies that she had to go through? Here is all you need to know.
Born to the Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and author-turned philanthropist Sudha Murthy, Akshata mostly had a humble childhood. When Akshata was two, Murthy family shifted to Mumbai from Hubli, Karnataka.
A feminist in action Sudha Murthy didn’t let her children grow in a lavish environment. As per the reports they didn’t have television in their house during the childhood. Not only that, Sudha ensured that her children go to school by auto-rickshaw instead by luxurious cars.
In her early days she went to Baldwin Girls' High School, Bangalore. However, for the higher education she went abroad and studies French and Economics in Claremont McKenna College in California. She has got a diploma n clothes manufacturing the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, a renowned fashion institute in Los Angeles.
However, for her MBA, she took admission to Stanford University where she met Rishi and the love story began.
Akshata met Rishi Sunak at Stanford university while she was studying MBA. Sunak was then a Fulbright Scholar with a first class degree from the reputed Oxford University.
The couple fell in love and decided to tie the knot forever. Their love could be found in the words of Sunak when he said in last September during his campaign against Liz Truss that he is grateful to Akshata for giving a chance to a ‘short kid with backpack’.
Explicitly mentioning his humble background in contrast to Akshata’s, Sunak said, “You know what you mean to me, and I am incredibly grateful that 18 years ago you chose to give up your high heels and take a chance on the short kid with a backpack.”
Appraising his daughter’s choice, Narayana Murthy once in a letter to Akshata said, “all that you had described him to be -- brilliant, handsome, and, most importantly, honest.”
The couple got married in 2009 with a simple yet elegant ceremony, in Bangalore. Though it was not that ‘fat Indian wedding’ as we see in Netflix series on India’s matchmaking, the guest list was fat enough to miss anyone’s gaze. The list included Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Anil Kumble, Nandan M Nilekani, Captain G.R. Gopinath, Prakash Padukone, Syed Kirmani and Girish Karnad among others.
The couple has two daughters Krishna and Anoushka.
Akshata, the owner of her brand Akshata designs had been featured in Vogue India magazine for her immense capability and contributions.
Her major fashion efforts lie in mingling the Indian traditional fashion outfits with that of western fashions. As per her profile in the Vogue Magazine, she works with different artists in the remote villages to make her designs unique.
About her design and fashion statement she states, “I’m about the story behind a particular garment, its authenticity, craftsmanship, and protecting a rich heritage.”
Apart from running Akshata Designs, she is now the director of Tendris, a Dutch cleantech Incubator Fund. She holds shares of worth $700 million in Infosys, her father’s company.
The power couple owns at least four properties including a seven million pound house in Kensington, London. They also own a flat in Santa Monica, California.
Known for their lavish lifestyle the couple reportedly spent 400,000 pound on a swimming pool at their country pad in August, just before Sunak’s bid to become the PM. Earlier, Sunak wore Prada loafer during his visit to a construction site evoking controversy and debates among paparazzi.
Even after huge dividends that she earns across globe, her non-domicile status in the UK didn’t require her to pay the taxes. During Sunak’s earlier bid, this became a matter of controversy leading her to declare that she will be paying tax willfully, but not being complelled by any law.
In a tweet, Akshata said, “I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to.” However, flexing her Indian identity she added, “My decision... will not change the fact that India remains the country of my birth, citizenship, parents' home and place of domicile. But I love the UK too.”
However, during that period dodging the controversy Sunak said, “So, I’ve always been a completely normal UK taxpayer; my wife is from another country so she’s treated differently, but she explained that in the spring and she resolved that issue. There is a commentary about my wife’s family’s wealth. So, let me just address that head-on because I think it’s worth doing because I’m actually incredibly proud of what my parents-in-law built.”
Whatever the controversies may be the Akshata is India’s knot to the UK, a country now to be ruled by an Indian-origin person whose grandfather was from Pakistan and emigrated to Kenya.