BJP leader and Delhi Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta after the BJP Legislature Party meeting at the party office in New Delhi on February 19, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
With a 30-year career in politics, Shalimar Bagh’s Rekha Gupta is set to take over as the next Chief Minister of Delhi on February 20. A grassroots leader with an RSS–ABVP background, she began her political journey while she was a B.Com student at Delhi University’s Daulat Ram College. She joined the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1992.
She was announced as the BJP pick after 48 MLAs from the party unanimously elected her as the leader of Delhi BJP legislature party. Accepting the role, Ms. Gupta said: “It is a matter of pride for every woman in the country. We will fulfil all commitments made by the BJP in Delhi. It will be my life’s purpose.”
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Defeating Bandana Kumari, a three-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh and a former Deputy Speaker from the AAP’s short stint in 2013 with a margin of 29,595 votes, the 50-year-old has been a three-time councillor from Shalimar Bagh. She joined the BJP in the 2000s, serving in key organisational roles, including as Delhi BJP General Secretary, president of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, and national vice-president of Uttar Pradesh Mahila Morcha. She was also an office-bearer in the BJP’s Yuva Morcha wing.
However, her journey in politics has not been without losses — the Chief Minister designate previously contested from Shalimar Bagh in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly polls unsuccessfully.
Born in Julana, Haryana, the BJP’s pick has been a clear message to the AAP. A party insider said, “The previous Chief Minister was referred to as a ‘temporary CM’, and now the BJP has come with a strong face to counter that.”
In 1995, she became the Secretary of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) from ABVP, and she went on to become the DUSU president in the following year. While she held the secretary post, Alka Lamba from the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), now a Congress leader, held the presidential post.
Fought for women’s issues
Ms. Lamba said, “We did not always agree on ideology because she had a staunch RSS ideology and did not support Gandhian ideology. But when it came to issues, as women, we supported each other. We both fought for women’s issues such as safety on campus and for more women’s colleges.”
Referring to her as a fighter, several BJP leaders who served with Ms. Gupta as councillors said she would fight for women’s rights. She raised issues of toilets for women. Working on basic facilities for the people of her area such as parks, libraries, Ms. Gupta is a leader that has emerged from the ground, and her quiet determination has led her to become the Chief Minister of the capital.
Manu Sharma Kataria, now an Associate Professor at DU, former national vice-president of ABVP, and a university senior of Ms. Gupta, recalled her college days, saying, “She [Ms. Gupta] has always been capable, disciplined, and sincere. Making her the Chief Minister was a good decision because when someone has their grooming in the grassroots, they make good leaders.”
Another DUSU colleague from the ABVP said Ms. Gupta led a number of movements on campus. “Together, we campaigned for the 180-day calendar, prior to which, the university would be open for less than 160 days. She also campaigned for women’s hostels, and women’s safety.” After DU, she did her LLB from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut in 2022.
During her campaign in the lead up to the 2025 Assembly polls, Ms. Gupta had promised to make a ‘Viksit Delhi’ that a ‘Viksit Bharat’ deserves as its capital.
Published – February 20, 2025 12:23 am IST