First-time MLA Rekha Gupta took oath as the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi on Thursday, 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.
The suspense surrounding the Cabinet ended. MLAs Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra took oath as Cabinet Ministers. Besides the two, Manjinder Singh Sirsa from the Rajouri Garden constituency, Ravindra Kumar Indraj from Bawana, Ashish Sood from Janakpuri, and Pankaj Kumar Singh from Vikaspuri are part of the new cabinet.
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.
In her first post on X following her name was announced, she wrote, “I thank the BJP’s national leadership and the legislature party. #viksitdelhi.” “Your support is my inspiration, and I will remain dedicated to the development of Delhi and public service with full devotion,” she wrote.
Parvesh Sahib Singh, New Delhi MLA
BJP leader Parvesh Verma defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency with a margin of 4089. A key face in BJP’s campaign, the 47-year-old leader vowed to transform the Yamuna into a riverfront like Sabarmati, provide housing and infrastructure for slum dwellers, create 50,000 government jobs, build flyovers, and work towards a pollution-free national capital.
Manjinder Sirsa, Rajouri Garden MLA
Manjinder Singh Sirsa of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won the Rajouri Garden constituency with 64,132 votes, decisively defeating A Dhanwati Chandela A of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who received 45,942 votes. This time 8 major candidates were in the fray for the Rajouri Garden assembly seat.
Ravinder Indraj Singh, Bawana MLA
BJP’s Ravinder Indraj Singh won against AAP’s Jai Upkar by 119515 votes. This time 7 major candidates were in the fray for the Bawana assembly seat. In the last Assembly elections, the AAP’s Jai Bhagwan won by a margin of 11526 votes. The BJP’s Ravinder Kumar was the runner up securing 84189 votes.
Kapil Mishra, Karawal Nagar MLA
Kapil Mishra, a former AAP minister, won from Karawal Nagar defeating his AAP rival Manoj Kumar Tyagi by a margin of 23,355 votes – the constituency. However, he left the AAP in 2019 to join the BJP. Mishra was founder of ‘Youth for Justice’, a social justice organisation, Mishra was involved in movements against farmer suicides, Yamuna encroachment and Commonwealth Games scandal, even authoring a book called ‘Its Common VS Wealth’ on the issue in 2010.
Ashish Sood, Janakpuri MLA
Ashish Sood won from Janakpuri by a margin of almost 19,000 votes this election. In 2020, he had lost the seat. He was general secretary of the BJP youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). In 2008, he was appointed secretary of Delhi BJP and later general secretary, before being elected as a councillor in the then-SDMC.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, Vikaspuri MLA
Pankaj Kumar Singh win in the Vikaspuri Assembly constituency, defeating AAP leader Mahinder Yadav by a margin of 12,876 votes. In the previous Assembly elections, Mahinder Yadav had won with a margin of 42,058 votes. Pankaj Kumar Singh is the son of the late Raj Mohan Singh, a former additional commissioner in the MCD.
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