On Thursday, first-time MLA Rekha Gupta took oath as the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi, days following the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in the national capital after over 26 years, ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The grand ceremony was held at the iconic Ramlila ground and was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of 20 states, and other senior BJP leaders and workers.
Rekha Gupta was chosen as the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly at the BJP legislature party meeting late Wednesday evening. The 50-year-old then met Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena and staked claim to form the government. Gupta became the fourth woman chief minister of the capital following Sushma Swaraj (BJP), Sheila Dikshit (Congress) and Atishi (AAP).
Besides Gupta, six other MLAs, including Parvesh Verma, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Kapil Mishra, took oath as Cabinet ministers. Ashish Sood, Pankaj Kumar Singh and Ravinder Indraj Singh were also sworn in as ministers in the government formed by the BJP following 27 years. BJP veteran and three-time Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta, who won in 2015 and 2020 amid the Arvind Kejriwal wave, will be the Assembly Speaker and Mohan Bisht his deputy.
#WATCH | BJP's first-time MLA Rekha Gupta takes oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Lt Governor VK Saxena administers her oath of office.
With this, Delhi gets its fourth woman CM, after BJP's Sushma Swaraj, Congress' Sheila Dikshit, and AAP's Atishi. pic.twitter.com/bU69pyvD7Y
— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2025
The development marks an important milestone for Rekha Gupta, 50, who becomes Delhi’s fourth woman Chief Minister after BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, Congress’s Sheila Dikshit and AAP’s Atishi.
About Rekha Gupta
A lawyer by profession, Gupta hails from the Baniya community, which has been the BJP’s traditional voter bloc, even during AAP’s near-sweeps in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi elections. Gupta, a former president and general secretary of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) has served as the general secretary of the ‘BJP Mahila Morcha’ in Delhi and as a member of the party’s national executive committee.
She started her political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Daulat Ram College, Delhi University, in 1992. In 1996-97, she became president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), where she actively raised student-related issues. Gupta, a former president and general secretary of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) has served as the general secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha in Delhi and as a member of the party’s national executive committee.
Rekha Gupta also launched the “Sumedha Yojana” to help economically weaker female students pursue higher education. As head of the Women Welfare and Child Development Committee, she worked on initiatives for women’s empowerment. Her engagement in social service has been influenced by her family’s emphasis on public welfare. Over the years, she has taken on various responsibilities in both political and community activities. In the 2025 Delhi assembly election, Rekha Gupta won from the Shalimar Bagh (North-West) constituency with 68,200 votes.
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