Capping days of suspense, the BJP announced on Wednesday the first-time MLA Rekha Gupta as the new chief minister of Delhi. Gupta's ascent to the helm of Delhi came as a surprise, though not entirely unexpected, as it was New Delhi MLA Parvesh Gupta who was widely considered the frontrunner for the post.
However, the top leadership favoured Gupta, the former Mayor of Delhi. While the decision was widely attributed to the woman factor, the other reasons that prompted the BJP to choose her include her performance and clean image during her stint as the Mayor of Delhi.
#WATCH | Delhi CM designate Rekha Gupta says, "It is a huge responsibility. I thank PM Modi and BJP high command for having faith in me... I will fulfil my responsibility with utmost honesty... My first priority is to complete all the commitments our party has made, and the… pic.twitter.com/kkGVAL7nq5
— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2025
The party also sent a message to women voters across the country, a strong base of BJP, by opting for Gupta over Verma. In Delhi Assembly Elections, the turnout of women voters was 60.92 per cent while that of men was 60. Gupta's presence also helped the BJP with its agenda of ensuring women's participation in governance and doing away with the disrepute of not having at least one woman CM in the 13 states it held power.
Gupta is also expected to carry forward the legacy of the state's woman chief ministers. Delhi has seen many women state heads, including the 15-year rule of Congress' Sheila Dixit, BJP's Sushma Swaraj and AAP's Atishi.
Through Gupta, the BJP also aims to appease the Vaishya community, who are strong supporters of AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. Gupta is also the lone CM from the community.
Her image as a non-controversial leader and performance during her stint as the Mayor came to her aid. While Parvesh Verma is known for his acrid remarks and controversial statements, Gupta is a calm and more mature face of the party. The top leadership also trusts her to work with all factions within the Delhi unit. Making Verma or Bidhuri as CM could have triggered infightings.
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Verma's baggage of coming from a political family - his father Sahib Singh Verma was the former chief minister of Delhi - worked against him. Making Verma the chief minister could have given AAP the ammunition of nepotism, which the BJP has been using against the Congress.
The party also plans to project her as a face against AAP's Atishi, who is likely to be a strong force within the Opposition AAP, in the wake of Kejriwal fighting corrupting allegations. Gupta's Haryana connections will also help the party make inroads among the Hariyanvi population in Delhi, of which Kejriwal too is a part.
