The BJP has picked Rekha Gupta, a three-time councillor, as the Chief Minister of Delhi. In picking Gupta, who started her political career with the Delhi University Students Union elections, the BJP has tried to cement a legacy and convey a message to its women voter base.
Rekha Gupta, named the Chief Minister of Delhi on Wednesday, might be a first-time MLA, but she has had a long innings in politics. By choosing her as the Delhi CM over other prominent faces, including giant-slayer Parvesh Verma, the BJP might be trying to score on multiple fronts.
Gupta, 50, won the Shalimar Bagh seat in the recent Delhi Assembly election with a margin of close to 30,000 votes. “Kaam hi Pehchaan” (my work is my identity), is a tagline the BJP leader uses on her website for her campaigns.
Gupta was one of the several Delhi BJP leaders who were seen as frontrunners for the CM’s post.
Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi BJP general secretary Ashish Sood, former Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay and Jitendra Mahajan were some of the contenders.
WHO IS REKHA GUPTA, DELHI’S NEW CHIEF MINISTER
Rekha Gupta cut her teeth in politics with the Delhi University students’ elections. She is a three-time councillor and former mayor of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). She was also pitted by the BJP as the MCD mayoral candidate against AAP’s Shelly Oberoi in 2022.
Rekha Gupta is the National Vice President of the BJP Mahila Morcha. She has previously served as the general secretary of the Delhi BJP.
Gupta graduated from Daulat Ram College and served as the President of DUSU in the 1996-97 session. She was first elected as a councilor from North Pitampura in 2007.
WHY BJP MIGHT HAVE CHOSEN REKHA GUPTA AS DELHI CM
By making Rekha Gupta the Delhi CM, the BJP is trying to build on the legacy of women chief ministers, and showing AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s stint as a contrast and aberration.
Delhi has seen a string of women chief ministers, including the 15-year rule of Congress’s Sheila Dikshit.
The other women CMs of Delhi were AAP’s Atishi and the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.
Atishi, the MLA from Kalkaji, is the outgoing CM, who was in the chair for five months. She was made to step in after Kejriwal quit as the CM in September 2024.
Sushma Swaraj was the Delhi CM from October 12, 1998, till December 3, 1998. She was brought in by the BJP leadership to firefight just ahead of the Assembly polls, which the party eventually lost. Surging prices of onion was one of the issuesthat cost the BJP the election.
The sequence of women as Delhi CMs for almost three decades would make Kejriwal’s 10 years stick out as a contrast. Here’s how.
Sushma Swaraj was followed by Sheila Dikshit, and they had over 15 years in continuation before Kejriwal became the CM for 10 years. Atishi, another woman, took over as CM for 5 months, and is now followed by Rekha Gupta.
Choosing Rekha Gupta as the CM also conforms to the BJP’s priority for women in electoral politics and policies.
For the election to the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the BJP fielded nine candidates. Four of the women candidates won.
Article source: indiatoday.in
