Rekha Gupta on Thursday took oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi, becoming the fourth woman to hold the post in the national capital. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Ramlila Maidan with Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena administering the oath of office to Gupta and her council of ministers.
The ceremony witnessed the presence of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J.P. Nadda, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Several other party stalwarts and chief ministers from neighbouring states also attended the event.
Among those who took oath as ministers were Parvesh Sahib Singh, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Kumar Singh.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu were also present.
Gupta, an MLA from Shalimar Bagh, has been a longstanding member of the BJP, having held various organisational roles over the years.
She previously served as the general secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha in Delhi and as a member of the party's national executive committee.
Also read: Rekha Gupta, six ministers to take oath in Delhi today
A product of Delhi University’s Daulat Ram College, Gupta started her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
She became the President of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) in 1996-97, where she focused on raising student-related issues.
Gupta entered local governance as a councillor from North Pitampura in 2007, where she worked to improve basic amenities, including libraries and parks.
She holds a law degree and is the founder of AAS, a non-governmental organisation. Notably, she contested and lost the 2023 mayoral election to the Aam Aadmi Party's Shelly Oberoi.
Her appointment as Chief Minister comes after days of intense speculation. The BJP’s landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, where the party secured 48 seats, marked the end of the Aam Aadmi Party's rule.
Following her election as the leader of the BJP legislature party, Gupta expressed her gratitude to the party leadership and the people of Delhi for entrusting her with the responsibility.
"It is a miracle, it is a new motivation and a new chapter. If I can be the CM, this means ways are open for all the women... Anyone who has been corrupt will have to give an account of each and every rupee," Gupta remarked.
She further pledged to prioritise the fulfilment of the BJP’s election promises and maintain a collaborative approach with all party MLAs.
"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," she said.
Gupta’s elevation is seen as a move to bolster the BJP’s emphasis on women's empowerment. She is the only woman currently serving as a BJP Chief Minister across the country.
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