Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday reaffirmed the BJP’s commitment to fulfilling the promises made to the people of the national capital. Rekha Gupta officially assumed office as Delhi’s Chief Minister at the Secretariat on Thursday. After taking charge, she stated, “We have a cabinet meeting today. We will consistently work towards the mission of Viksit Delhi, ensuring that all our promises are fulfilled… We will also visit Yamuna Ghat for aarti. The cabinet meeting is scheduled to take place at 7 PM.”
Rekha Gupta, 50, is a first-time MLA who was chosen over several senior leaders in the Delhi BJP, likely due to the party’s preference for a woman leader to assume the post. Known for maintaining a low profile compared to other prominent BJP leaders in Delhi, her selection as the next Chief Minister came after several days of intense speculation. She is now the only woman among the current BJP Chief Ministers.
Following her election as the leader of the BJP legislature party, Rekha Gupta expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP leadership, and the people of Delhi for entrusting her with this significant responsibility.
Rekha Gupta was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi in a grand ceremony held at Ramlila Maidan. The oath of office was administered by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. Alongside her, six other ministers—Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Kumar Singh—also took their oaths of office.
The swearing-in ceremony witnessed the presence of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President and Health Minister JP Nadda, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Several other dignitaries, such as Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, were also in attendance.
Having risen through the party ranks, Rekha Gupta has served Delhi in various organizational roles and as a councillor, making her well-versed in the challenges and concerns of the national capital. With the BJP’s election manifesto outlining numerous promises, she is expected to take an active and hands-on approach in addressing Delhi’s governance issues.
Meanwhile, shortly after Rekha Gupta assumed office as Chief Minister, the Delhi Congress extended its full support to the new government. Delhi Congress Chief Devender Yadav congratulated and conveyed his best wishes to the newly-appointed Chief Minister, expressing hope that she would have a successful tenure and work towards restoring Delhi to the prosperous state it once was under former Congress Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Yadav emphasized that as a woman Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta has an exemplary role model in the late Sheila Dikshit, who transformed Delhi into a clean, green, and world-class city before what he called an “imposter” ruined the capital with corruption, misrule, and inefficiency over the past 11 years.
Yadav further stressed that the Delhi Congress would provide full cooperation and support to the new government, provided it takes immediate steps to repair the immense damage caused to the city’s civic infrastructure under the previous Kejriwal-led administration. He accused the former government of coming to power with limited resources but ultimately misusing taxpayers’ money for personal corruption and luxury instead of focusing on governance.