When Akshata Murty Wowed The Tories

IMAGE: Akshata Murty speaks at the Conservative party's annual conference in Manchester. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, an unusual event occurred at Britain's Conservative Party's annual conference in Manchester.

Before British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed the Tories, Akshata Murty introduced her husband to the conference, which is likely to be the last to take place before the UK's next general election.

Reporting on Akshata's speech in the British The Times newspaper, Mario Ledwidth reported: 'She claimed her husband had not read over her words, before regaling conference with a story of their relationship which would not have looked out of place in one of the rom-coms she said her husband so loves.'

'"The reason I am here today is because Rishi and I are each other's best friends," she cooed,' Ledwith reported. 'Perhaps explaining her narrative arc, Murty said of her husband's viewing habits: "The cheesier, the better".'.

Akshata didn't mention if her famous writer mother Sudha Murty or her even more well known father IT mogul N R Narayana Murthy had a dekko at her speech.

IMAGE: Akshata speaks on stage, here and below. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Reviewing Akshata's performance in the The Times on Thursday, Hilary Rose was savage, calling it 'a four-minute ick-fest about how much she loves him and how they're a team, how proud he makes her and their daughters, how drawn she is to his integrity even after 14 years of marriage and describing the man in charge of running this place as a wonderful father and her best friend. Pass the sick bag and honestly, who cares?'

'To be clear, I do not blame Murty for this cripplingly retrograde step for the sisterhood. I blame her husband. This wouldn't happen in any other sphere of work. No female politician expects her other half to sell her to the electorate. I don't remember Margaret Thatcher calling on Dennis,' Rose added.

IMAGE: Rishi joins Akshata on stage. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Those harsh and unkind words won't matter at all if Akshata burnished Rishi's credentials as a more human counterfoil to his primary political opponent, Sir Keir Starmer, the rather robotic leader of the Labour party.

IMAGE: Rishi likely compliments his shy wife on a job well done. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

IMAGE: Earlier, the couple arrive to attend the Conservative conference, here and below. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

IMAGE: Rishi and Akshata work the Tory crowd, here and below. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

IMAGE: Akshata and Rishi acknowledge the applause after her speech before...Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

IMAGE: Akshata leaves the stage so that Rishi can deliver his message to the party faithful. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

IMAGE: Rishi knows the Conservatives battered by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss's wayward prime ministerships and a tottering economy give him and his party only a sliver of a chance of victory at the next general election, but The Times reported last week that he is determined to give his all to pull off an unlikely triumph. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Photographs curated by Anant Salvi and Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com