I would rather have lucky generals than good ones, is a quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, but it rather fits British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who is leading a battered Conservative Party into British elections.

Little over 18 months into the job, the youngest Prime Minister of Indian-origin
to lead modern Britain faces a tough challenge to get the people’s mandate and
be the “rightful occupant” of No 10 Downing Street.

Odds are stacked against him as the Labour Party leads over the Conservatives
across all opinion polls by a comfortable margin of 20 points. The point of discussion
is the scale of Labour win after 14 long years. Of the 365 Tory MP’s who formed the
last government 75, including former Prime Minister Theresa May and former deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, have decided not to contest elections.

Despite gloom written large over his political future, the diaspora from the subcontinent, not just India, look at Rishi with a lot of optimism.

“When I see Rishi Sunak, I see hope”, says Imran Choudhary who hails from Bangladesh and is a councillor from West Northamptonshire. “With him having
occupied the top chair, in the coming years my great grandchildren can look up to
Rishi. So can I. Think of it, this means a lot to us South Asians,” he adds.

Choudhary dismisses the criticism levied against Sunak, that the cost of living has gone through the roof, the economy is in tatters, public services are taking a southward dip, especially the waiting lines at the National Health Services.

“He inherited these problems and has done what any other PM would have. An emotional verdict on Brexit, followed by Covid shattered our ailing economy and Rishi has got it back on track. The inflation is under control and things are looking bright,” says Choudhary.

His sentiments are echoed by Om Prakash Sharma hailing from Jammu, who is in
the real estate business. “The interest rates were high at 5 per cent, the real estate
sector was down, Rishi has been able to bring that down to under 4 per cent and things are looking up. Even inflation is down, but still, one hears about the cost of living
being high, it’s always been so in London.”

Indians across the board are upbeat about Sunak, Jay U Shah, a businessman who
has been in Britain for over five decades, says: “He is a good guy, with his heart at
the right place. Can’t find much wrong with what he has done, had he worked on his
messaging, he would have been in a stronger place.”

Shah’s views are furthered by a British national who doesn’t wish to be named and
has worked for over five years in India before returning back earlier in March, “He has shades of Rahul Gandhi of the past, prior to his Bharat Jodo Yatra avatar, when it comes to understanding the sensibilities of people. Look at what happened on the D-Day celebrations last month in France. He was at the functions at Normandy memorial and returned early to attend some television engagements, while his challenger from Labour Kier Starmer spent the whole day at the memorial. This sent a message across that the PM doesn’t care much about the war heroes, some thing that the British people rate very highly. Goof ups like this show lack of political understanding and also highlight that he doesn’t have able advisors around him.”

Some of his staunchest supporters like former Metropolitan Police officer, Bhupender Singh, feel that he hushed up in calling the elections early.

Sunak should have waited for January 2025 and should have ensured that the planes to Rwanda with illegal immigrants have taken off. “This would have silenced his critics who are gunning for him stating that he is soft on illegal migrants,” says Singh.

Singh admits Sunak is not on a strong wicket, but some like Kuldeep Singh
Shekhawat, founder of MA TV, says: “Things now aren’t that bad as they started,
Labour minus any agenda and local seat dynamics in many parts of the country
aren’t as strong as they started out. Let’s wait for the results.” Shekhawat thrashes
the scepticism that Sunak might lose his seat Richmond, “Anything is possible in
politics, but this is stretching too far. He will sail through.”

While his supporters back him to the hilt, Sunak is pragmatic in his approach. Talking
to the BBC on July 1, Sunak admitted that “his party hasn’t got everything right” and
he wasn’t too satisfied with the progress his government has made on reducing the
NHS waiting lists. But like any other politician putting up a brave face he said: “It’s not
over until it is over.” He fancies a flashy cover drive to finish the innings in style, but
that may be coming a little too late in his short, eventful innings.