New Delhi, Feb 19: First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, the BJP announced on Wednesday.
Gupta was chosen as the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly at the BJP legislature party meeting. The party has returned to power in Delhi after over 26 years, ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
Gupta and her Cabinet ministers will take the oath of office at the Ramlila Ground on Thursday. She will be the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj, Sheila Dikshit and Atishi.
She will be the only woman chief minister among the states being ruled by the BJP at present.
The 50-year-old leader won from Shalimar Bagh, defeating AAP candidate Bandana Kumari by over 29,000 votes in the February 5 Assembly polls.
All 48 newly-elected BJP MLAs attended the legislature party meeting in the presence of Central observers Ravi Shankar Prasad and O P Dhankar. Gupta’s name was proposed by senior party leaders Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay.
The announcement came 11 days after the results of the Delhi Assembly polls were declared on February 8. The CM-designate will now meet Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at Raj Niwas to stake a claim in forming a BJP-led government in Delhi.
Soon after the announcement, Gupta thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said she would work with full honesty, integrity and dedication for the welfare, empowerment and overall development of every citizen of Delhi.
“I am fully committed to this important opportunity to take Delhi to new heights,” Gupta said in a post on X.
“I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the top leadership for trusting me and entrusting me with the responsibility of the post of chief minister. This trust and support of yours has given me new energy and inspiration.”
In the recent assembly polls, the BJP won 48 out of the 70 assembly seats while the AAP got 22 seats and the Congress drew a blank.
Rekha Gupta is a former president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) and civic body councillor. The Law graduate of Delhi University entered politics as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member in 1992.
She enjoys close ties with the RSS and is actively engaged with women-related matters. Gupta is also the national vice president of BJP Mahila Morcha and a member of the party’s national executive.
Around 50,000 people, including Prime Minister Modi, his cabinet colleagues and the chief minister of NDA-ruled states among others, will attend her oath-taking ceremony on Thursday.
More than 25,000 security personnel will be deployed in the central, north, and New Delhi areas of the city for the oath-taking ceremony. (PTI)
