Visas for Indians Take Center Stage as Conservative Party Leadership Race to Replace Rishi Sunak Intensifies

The two leading candidates to succeed Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party and as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons have focused on reducing immigration to the UK, with Indian visas being specifically mentioned in heated discussions. During Sunday's Conservative Party conference launch in Birmingham, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick named India as one of the nations that should face strict visa restrictions in all categories unless it brings back its citizens who enter Britain illegally. Kemi Badenoch, his closest opponent and shadow housing secretary, has also focused on the same issue and condemned new migrants who bring their disputes from India to stir up trouble on the nation's streets. "It is quite clear that there are many people who have recently come to this country who have brought views from their countries of origin that have no place here. I saw as equalities minister people bringing cultural disputes from India to the streets of Leicester… we need to make sure that when people come to this country, they leave their previous differences behind. This is not a controversial thing to say,” Badenoch told the BBC. Considered one of the favorites to win the current Tory leadership competition, Nigerian-heritage Badenoch was reportedly referring to the disputes that erupted in Leicester in September 2022 following an India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match. Robert Jenrick, her former ministerial colleague and current front-runner in the race, told "The Daily Telegraph" earlier this week that although India had benefited from 250,000 visas in the previous year, up to 100,000 Indian nationals were thought to be living in the UK illegally. He highlighted the fact that hundreds of deportations or removals to India continue to occur, even though the India-UK Migration and Mobility Partnership is intended to handle these kinds of returns of illegal migrants. "The government must stop other countries exploiting our generosity by imposing severe visa restrictions and restricting foreign aid to countries that do not take back their nationals here illegally,” said Jenrick. Before MPs cast their votes in the next round, Jenrick and Badenoch will compete against two other party colleagues, former Cabinet ministers James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, during the four-day Tory conference that begins on Sunday. The last two contenders will compete for the online vote of the larger Conservative Party membership, many of whom will be making their decisions during the party conference. This time, the field will be narrowed down to just two candidates. After the polls finish on November 2, the new Opposition Leader and head of the Conservative Party will be announced. The poll comes after Sunak resigned as Tory leader after the party suffered a crushing defeat in the July general election while he was in charge. Until his replacement is chosen, the British Indian politician, who was re-elected as a member of Parliament from Richmond and Northallerton in northern England, has been acting as interim leader.

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