Rekha Gupta, the 50-year-old BJP’s victorious candidate from the Shalimar Bagh Constituency, is set to take oath as the next CM of Delhi. The BJP on Wednesday announced Gupta to be the new CM after 48 MLAs unanimously voted for her in a legislative meeting held in the national capital.
The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 once again proved that being a heavyweight in the party doesn’t guarantee a top post in the party-ruled government. The BJP secured a decisive victory in the recent Delhi Assembly elections, winning 48 out of 70 seats and unseating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which managed to secure 22 seats.
BJP tends to follow the preconceived strategy of selecting its chief ministers every time the party wins an election. Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, and now Delhi—all these BJP-ruled states chose newcomers rather than established frontrunners to lead the state.
Rekha Gupta is set to become BJP’s only woman chief minister among the states currently ruled by the party. Gupta’s political career began when she was elected as the president of Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) in 1996. Over the years, she has held various significant positions, including General Secretary of the BJP’s Delhi state unit and National Vice President of the BJP Mahila Morcha.
With Gupta chosen over Parvesh Verma to be the name for the top post, it reveals the BJP’s strategic move to sway away from the opposition’s allegations of dynasty politics. Parvesh Verma, the son of Sahib Singh Verma, former CM of Delhi, defeated Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi assembly, earning the title of “giant killer.” With its decision to choose Gupta, a first-time MLA, as the CM, the BJP hopes to avoid ‘factionalism’ within the party, a problem that continues to plague the party’s governance in other states.
Edited by Pronoy Shukla
Also Read: https://theglobalic.com/2025/02/19/indias-capital-gets-fourth-women-head-of-government/
