Bharatvanshi Leo Varadkar has become the new Prime Minister of the European country Ireland. His father Ashok, who lives in Mumbai, India, shifted to Ireland in 1973. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has congratulated him on the occasion of assuming the post of Prime Minister for the second time.
He said- Congratulations to Leo Varadkar on becoming the Prime Minister for the second time. I greatly value the historical ties, shared constitutional values and multifaceted cooperation with Ireland. Will work together to take the economy of both countries to new heights.
Youngest Irish PM
Leo, 43, is Ireland’s youngest prime minister. This is his second term. In 2017, at the age of 38, he became the Prime Minister for the first time. His tenure lasted till 2020. Not only this, he is also the first gay PM of Ireland. He was born on 18 January 1979 in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. His mother Mary was related to Ireland.
Had announced to he gay in 2015
Homosexuality was considered a crime in Ireland until 1993. In 2013, Ireland held a referendum, after which it recognized same-sex marriage in May 2015. A few months before this, in January 2015, Varadkar came out in open and made public that he was gay. At that time he was the health minister.
Was interested in politics from an early age
He had stepped into politics since his student life. In 2007 he won the election from Dublin West on a Fine Gael ticket and became a counselor. At that time he was only 24 years old.
Mother nurse, father doctor
Leo’s mother Mary worked as a nurse. His father Ashok was an Indian expatriate. He was a doctor by profession and worked in the National Health Service of England in the 1960s. It was here that both of them met. Ashok was from Varad village in Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra and lived in Mumbai.
Varadkar became PM under the agreement
General elections were held in Ireland in 2020. This was followed by a historic agreement between Michael Martin’s party ‘Fienna Fail’ and Varadkar’s party ‘Finne Gael’. After this Martin became the Prime Minister of the country. It was decided under the agreement – for the first two and a half years of the five-year term, Martin would be the Prime Minister of the country and Varadkar would be the Deputy Prime Minister. After completion of two and a half years, both will replace each other.
