The Hinduja Diwali Reception was successfully hosted after the forced break of 3 years owing to the Pandemic. The turn of the political events in the UK provided an auspicious restart to this august event.
Only a few days ahead of Diwali, Rishi Sunak became the United Kingdom’s first British Asian Hindu Prime Minister. The Hinduja family was delighted to welcome over 300 guests, including peers, MPs, Ambassadors and diplomats, top business leaders, and journalists to their Diwali Reception at their London Heritage Home, the Carlton House Terrace. It was the family’s first in-person Diwali celebration since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Proceedings began with Sir Clive Alderton, Principal Private Secretary to HM King Charles III delivering special Diwali wishes from the new Monarch, highlighting King Charles’s commitment to all faiths and communities.
Gopichand Hinduja, Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group, along with his brothers, Prakash and Ashok Hinduja, spoke of the significance of Diwali, about Goddess Lakshmi, and how real wealth comprises blessings and contentment earned through the acts of giving.
Representatives from the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties included the new Conservative Party Chairman, Nadhim Zahawi MP, former Health Secretary during the Covid-19 pandemic, Matt Hancock MP, Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, and the globally recognised Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Kamal Prakash Hinduja, and Harsha Ashok Hinduja, presented the moortis of Goddess Lakshmi to the dignitaries.
Arjun Rampal with his partner, Gabriella, and playback singer, Kanika Kapoor were there from Bollywood. Usha Mittal, the wife of Arcelor’s LN Mittal, who was travelling, also attended along with 22 High Commissioners from the 38 countries where the Hinduja Group is directly present.
