Shailesh Vara presented a special copy of the Bhagavad Gita to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, for use by Hindu MPs during their swearing-in ceremonies.
Upon their election, all MPs take an oath of allegiance to the Monarch, and this blessed Bhagavad Gita will be used by Hindu MPs in future ceremonies.
Vara, a Ugandan-British Conservative politician and former MP for North West Cambridgeshire, has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022.
He was accompanied by Nila Madhava Dasa Adhikari from the Hare Krishna temple near Watford. Dasa ensured the copy was blessed in a sacred ceremony at the Mayapur temple, the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in India.
The presentation took place in the Speaker's House at the Palace of Westminster on May 24, shortly before Parliament was dissolved for the general election. During the ceremony, Dasa recited a Sanskrit prayer as Vara presented the Bhagavad Gita to Hoyle.
After the presentation, Vara said, "This Bhagavad Gita has been specially blessed in a temple in India and will be used by Hindu MPs entering Parliament following this general election and those who will enter in the generations to come."
Dasa added, "This Bhagavad Gita has been blessed at the Headquarters of ISKCON in Mayapur, India. We humbly pray that this Bhagavad Gita be utilised in the House of Commons by Hindu members of Parliament perpetually."
