Rekha Gupta, the newly-elected BJP legislator from Shalimar Bagh, will be the 9th Chief Minister of Delhi. She will be sworn in on Thursday, ending the prolonged suspense following the party’s historic win in the Assembly elections in the national capital on February 8.
The BJP’s legislature party on Wednesday night elected Rekha Gupta as its leader. Her name was announced by party’s two central observers — Ravi Shankar Prasad and Om Prakash Dhankhar–after a meeting of the BJP legislature party which was attended by all 48 newly-elected party legislators at the Delhi BJP office.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rekha Gupta on her election as the leader of BJP legislature party. The PM, other top BJP leaders and several NDA Chief Ministers will attend the swearing-in ceremony at iconic Ramlila Maidan on Thursday.
The last BJP government in Delhi was from 1993 to 1998. A first time MLA, Rekha Gupta will be the fourth woman Chief Minister of Delhi. Sushma Swaraj (BJP), Sheila Dikshit (Congress) and Atishi (AAP) have held the coveted position in the past.
The saffron party registered a landslide victory in the February 5 Delhi assembly elections, the results of which were declared on February 8, winning a two-thirds majority bagging 48 seats in the 70-member assembly. In the recently held Assembly polls, the AAP suffered a rout with 22 seats while the Congress failed to score for the third consecutive time.
The swearing-in ceremony will commence at 10 AM tomorrow. The new CM will be administered the oath of office and secrecy by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, in the presence of top BJP brass.
A gathering of car drivers, auto drivers and slum-dwellers will be among the key invitees who will garner attention at the oath-taking ceremony.
Earlier on Wednesday, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said auto-rickshaw drivers and labourers will attend the Delhi Chief Minister’s oath-taking ceremony on Thursday at Ramlila Maidan.
“The PM, CMs of some states, the party’s central leadership, auto-rickshaw drivers, labourers and a few known people from civil society will attend the oath ceremony tomorrow,” he added.
Twenty Deputy Chief Ministers from various NDA-ruled states will participate in the oath-taking ceremony of the Delhi Chief Minister at Ramlila Maidan tomorrow.
Earlier on Wednesday, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh reviewed the ongoing final preparations for the oath ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Delhi, scheduled to take place at Ramlila Maidan tomorrow.
“The ceremony is scheduled to be held at 11 am tomorrow…Every poor, common person is the biggest VIP and they will be present here to bless PM Narendra Modi and the new cabinet. People of Delhi have given their blessings to PM Narendra Modi. These abundant blessings have transformed into a mandate.
Tomorrow, a historic event will take place in Delhi,” Chugh said.