Conservative MP Bob Blackman swore allegiance to King Charles in the House of Commons on Wednesday, holding the King James Bible in one hand and the Bhagavad Gita in the other.
On social media platform X, Blackman expressed his pride in taking the oath, stating, “Proud to have taken my oath of allegiance to HM King Charles on the King James Bible and the Gita as we return to Parliament after the General Election.”
This occasion was not the first instance of Blackman using the Bhagavad Gita during the oath-taking process. In 2019, Blackman, who represents Harrow East—a constituency with a significant Hindu population—took the oath with the Bhagavad Gita for the first time, despite not being of Indian origin.
Blackman has a history of honoring the Bhagavad Gita in the British Parliament, being recognized as the first MP to host a talk on the Bhagavad Gita in the House of Commons.
In 2020, Blackman again took the oath with the Gita in one hand and the Bible in the other following the elections. Rishi Sunak, Alok Sharma, and Shailesh Vara followed a similar trend that year. In 2022, Rishi Sunak, the first Indian-origin Prime Minister, took his oath of allegiance on the Bhagavad Gita upon being elected MP in the House of Commons.
Earlier in 2024, Blackman raised concerns over the British media’s coverage of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Speaking in the UK Parliament, he noted, “In Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, the Ram Mandir was consecrated. This was of great joy to Hindus across the world as being the birthplace of Lord Ram.”
He criticized the BBC for emphasizing the site’s history as a mosque rather than acknowledging its ancient temple heritage and the allocation of land for a new mosque nearby.