In a massive display of solidarity at the famous Ramlila Maidan, first-time MLA Rekha Gupta took the oath of office as Delhi’s chief minister on Thursday in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NDA chief ministers. Amid ‘Jai Shri Ram’ cries from the 30,000-strong throng, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena swore in Gupta, who was beaming and wearing a jacket over a red saree, evoking the BJP mainstay Sushma Swaraj’s dress code.
In addition to Gupta, six other MLAs were sworn in as Cabinet ministers, including Parvesh Verma, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, and Kapil Mishra. After 27 years, Ashish Sood, Pankaj Kumar Singh, and Ravinder Indraj Singh were also sworn in as ministers in the BJP-formed cabinet.
Meet Delhi’s New Ministers
Although the portfolios have not yet been assigned, the Cabinet appointments show that the BJP has balanced caste considerations.
While Manjinder Singh Sirsa is from the Sikh community, Parvesh Verma is an influential Jat leader. Ravinder Singh is a Dalit leader, Ashish Sood is a member of the Punjabi Khatri caste, and Kapil Mishra is the Brahmin spokesperson for the BJP.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, first-time MLA from Vikaspuri and a dentist by profession, is a familiar face among the Purvanchali community, which moved from the AAP to vote en masse for the BJP this time.
Mohan Bisht will serve as his deputy, and Vijender Gupta, a BJP veteran and three-time Rohini MLA who won in 2015 and 2020 during the Arvind Kejriwal wave, will serve as the Assembly Speaker.
Who Is Rekha Gupta?
The move is a significant milestone for 50-year-old Rekha Gupta, who joins AAP’s Atishi, Congress’s Sheila Dikshit, and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj as Delhi’s fourth female chief minister.
Gupta, a lawyer by trade and a native of the Baniya community, which has historically supported the BJP, even during the AAP’s close wins in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi elections, was born in Jind, Haryana.
Gupta began her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which was supported by the RSS. In 1996–1997, she was elected president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU). In 2007, she began her electoral career as a Pitampura North councilor. She was elected twice more to the local council. Although she failed not make an impression in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, her political skills were recognized, and she was appointed the national vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mahila Morcha.
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