Delhi CM Announcement Highlights: Rekha Gupta becomes CM-designate, thanks PM Modi

“I thank our central leadership, PM Modi, all our MLAs for this responsibility,” Delhi CM-designate Rekha Gupta said on Wednesday.

BJP has officially announced that Rekha Gupta will be the next Chief Minister of Delhi.

BJP MLA-elect Rekha Gupta is set to be the next Chief Minister of Delhi, ANI reported citing sources. The official announcement is set to come in soon. Rekha Gupta is set to be the first woman BJP CM since Vasundhara Raje stepped down.

“BJP is a party with difference, and it has a very big team for decision-making. There is a process of brainstorming, and after this process, the final decision is announced… This decision (Delhi CM) will be made with the same approach in mind.

A few MLAs– Vijender Gupta, Parvesh Verma, and Satish Upadhyay– have already been taken aside into a separate meeting by the two central observers, according to India Today.

All 48 MLAs have arrived for the legislative party meeting happening at the BJP’s Delhi office. The meeting has begun, with all members asked to leave their phones outside the meeting hall.

The legislative party meeting is expected to begin at the BJP Delhi office in the next few minutes. Given that the meeting is expected to run for another half an hour or so, the decision on who will be the new Delhi CM is expected to come in at 8 pm.

BJP Members of Parliament (MPs) Bansuri Swaraj and Praveen Khandelwal arrived at the BJP Delhi office on Wendesday evening, with less than an hour to go before the state’s new chief minister is announced.

Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on his arrival for legislative party meeting at the BJP’s Delhi office, told reporters, “You will get all the information in the next one hour.” He said the party spokesperson will announce the decision after the meeting.

Watch:

Around 7 pm, the BJP leader who defeated Arvind Kejriwal, Parvesh Verma, arrived at the party’s Delhi office for the legislative party meeting.

Delhi BJP MLAs have begun arriving to elect the leader of the legislative party, ANI reported. The name of the city’s CM is set to be announced at 7 pm.

Parvesh Verma: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has been contesting from the New Delhi constituency since his party entered politics. A three-time MLA, he was up against BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit.

As expected, it was a close contest but a two-pronged one between Verma and Kejriwal. As votes were counted, Kejriwal first trailed, then had a lead and then trailed again, first with a margin of 200-odd votes. The gap became wider – to 1000 and more. In the end, Verma emerged victorious, defeating Kejriwal by 4089 votes.

The stunning win immediately made Verma a contender for the post of CM in Delhi in the public eye.

Rekha Gupta: With expectations of a woman CM high, Rekha Gupta, who won from Shalimar Bagh is also being viewed as one of the top contenders. She is a lawyer by profession and was a member of BJP’s student wing, ABVP, since 1992.

BJP MLA elect Raj Kumar Bhatia said, “For us, the most important thing is that our govt is forming after 27 years…48 candidates are there for CM post…”

His comments came ahead of the Delhi BJP legislative party meeting.

According to PTI, top BJP leaders Amit Shah and JP Nadda are attending a meeting at the new RSS office in Delhi ahead of announcing the Chief Minister for the state at 7pm.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh national general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale was also present at the ‘karyakarta sammelan’ at the office in Jhandewalan along with other senior functionaries of the organisation as well as office-bearers and volunteers, including those representing RSS affiliates.

BJP is set to announce the Delhi CM who is set to take oath on February 20 soon.

Rekha Gupta defeated the AAP’s Bandana Kumari in Shalimar Bagh.

Gupta, who received 68,200 votes, won by a margin of 29,595 votes

According to her Facebook profile, Gupta is the national vice president of the BJP Mahila Morcha.

She is also an ex-councillor of Ward-56, Shalimar Bagh, of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

As per her website, Gupta began her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1992.

By 1996-97, she was president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU).

In 2007, Gupta was elected as a councillor from North Pitampura.

She has served as general secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha in Delhi and as a member of the party’s national executive committee.

As per My Neta, Gupta is an advocate.

She did her LLB From Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, in 2022.

She has assets worth Rs 5 crore and there are no criminal cases against her.

Rekha Gupta, a BJP MLA from Shalimar Bagh constituency, is set to be the next Chief Minister of Delhi, Dainik Bhaskar reported citing sources. According to the news outlet, RSS had proposed a woman face for the post, and BJP agreed to it.

At Ramlila Maidan, the location where the oath-taking ceremony of the new Delhi CM will take place on February 20, final security preparations are now underway.

Party workers began gathering in large numbers outside of BJP office in Delhi ahead of the legislative party meeting.

Over 25,000 security personnel to be deployed for Delhi CM’s oath-taking ceremony

BJP National General Secretary Dushyant Gautam, talking about the selection of Delhi’s chief minister, said that there is no formula that the party is using to decide the face.

“This is a suspense. The legislative party will take the decision, which will be approved by the party’s parliamentary board….There is no formula,” he said.

“The ‘Ram Rajya’ that was envisioned will take oath after 27 years. Everyone in Delhi will witness it with great joy,” Rekha Gupta said.

Shah and Nadda arrived at the “Keshav Kunj” office of the RSS just minutes ago.

BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said that the “invitation (for legislative party meet) is of 7 pm. They will come and discuss and then tell you the name of the CM… The oath will be taken tomorrow morning, PM and CMs of some states will attend the event.”

If the BJP chooses a candidate from the influential Baniya community, Vijender Gupta could be a frontrunner. He has been a three-time councillor from Rohini and a former Delhi BJP president.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has invited gig workers, cab and auto-rickshaw drivers, farmers, and slum leaders to the oath-taking ceremony of Delhi’s new Chief Minister on Thursday, sources told NDTV.

The oath-taking ceremony is set to take place on 20th February at 12 PM, 11 days after BJP’s win in the Delhi polls. Women beneficiaries of the party’s welfare schemes are also on the guest list.

 While the BJP is yet to announce its chief ministerial pick for Delhi, speculations are rife that the party might opt for a woman candidate, the Hindustan Times reported. There are a few potential female CM candidates, including Shalimar Bagh winning candidate Rekha Gupta and Greater Kailash’s Shikha Roy.

When asked if she is a contender for Delhi CM, BJP MLA Rekha Gupta said, “No one is a contender; the party will decide. Whoever is given the responsibility will serve with full commitment. I am confident that with a BJP CM, a new chapter will begin in Delhi. There will be significant development, people will get their rights, and all pending work will be completed.

Gupta said that there is great enthusiasm for tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony, and people are eager to attend.

As the new Delhi Chief Minister is all set to take the oath, here are the key details of the ceremony:

The swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister and the new cabinet of Delhi will be held at Ramlila Maidan tomorrow, 20th February. The ceremony will begin at 11 AM. Lt Governor VK Saxena will administer the oath of office to the CM-designate and the cabinet at 12:35 PM.

PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers, and NDA Chief Ministers and Deputy CMs will witness the ceremony.

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and National Secretary Om Prakash Dhankar have been appointed as central observers for electing the Leader of the Delhi BJP Legislature Party.