Rekha Gupta takes oath as Delhi Chief Minister

BJP MLA Rekha Gupta takes oath as Delhi Chief Minister during the swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan, in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: NarendraModi/X

Rekha Gupta, a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, takes oath as Delhi Chief Minister.

She has been chosen as the new Delhi Chief Minister, after BJP’s legislature party meeting at its national headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Ms. Gupta, 50, will be the fourth woman to head the government in the Union Territory.

Follow Delhi CM oath-taking ceremony LIVE

Ms. Gupta, a three-time municipal councillor who was active in student politics, was a surprise choice. She beat a number of probable candidates, including Parvesh Verma who had defeated Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency, three-term MLA and former Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta, and former Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay.

“It is a huge responsibility. I thank PM Modi and BJP high command for having faith in me… I will fulfil my responsibility with utmost honesty… My first priority is to complete all the commitments our party has made, and the second priority is that all our 48 MLAs will work as a team Modi. I never thought I would be a CM of Delhi,” Rekha Gupta said.

Who is Rekha Gupta?

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.

Along with Rekha Gupta, six other ministers, including Parvesh Sahib Singh (Deputy CM), Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Kumar Singh, will take the oath.

BJP is forming a government in the national capital after 27 years.

BJP won 48 seats out of 70 seats, while Aam Aadmi Party could win only 22 seats in the assembly polls held earlier this month. Congress could not open its account in the third successive election