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Informist, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025

 

--BJP's Rekha Gupta takes oath as Delhi chief minister

 

NEW DELHI – Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rekha Gupta on Thursday took oath as the chief minister of Delhi at a grand ceremony in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena administered the oath of office and privacy to Gupta, the fourth woman to be appointed to the post.

 

The lieutenant governor also administered oath to BJP leaders Parvesh Sahib Singh, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Sigh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Kumar Singh as ministers in the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. 

 

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and J.P. Nadda, as well as the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also attended the ceremony.

 

Rekha Gupta is a first-time member of the legislative assembly from the Shalimar Bagh constituency. She defeatd the Aam Aadmi Party's Bandana Kumari by a margin of over 29,000 votes. Gupta contested her first assembly polls in 2015, but had lost to Kumari by over 10,000 votes. In 2020, she again lost to Kumari, though with a reduced margin of 3,440 votes. 

 

Gupta's name for the post of Delhi chief minister was announced on Wednesday evening, following a meeting of the legislative party at the Delhi BJP office. BJP members unanimously elected Gupta as leader of the legislative party.

 

In the past, Gupta has held the post of president of the Delhi University Students Union. She also served as councillor, Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha general secretary, and member of the BJP's national executive.

 

"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. I pledge that I will 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 on X, formerly Twitter, after her election as the BJP's legislative party leader.

 

The BJP announced its pick for the chief minister's post 10 days after the results for the Delhi Assembly elections were announced on Feb 8. The party won 48 of the 70 seats in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly election held on Feb. 5. It defeated the Aam Aadmi Party, which won 22 seats.

 

The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 years. The last time the party formed a government in Delhi was in 1993, after which it lost the elections in 1998 to the Congress party. Though it emerged as the largest party in the 2013 Assembly polls with 32 seats, it sat on the Opposition benches as the Congress party extended support to the AAP to form the government.

 

In the 2025 polls, the BJP's vote share increased by seven percentage points to 45.56% from 38.51% in 2020.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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