Rekha Gupta, first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh constituency, will take oath as Delhi chief minister at iconic Ramlila Maidan shortly, marking an end of the drought of Bharatiya Janata Party in the national capital.
Gupta, 50, was chosen as the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly at the BJP legislature party meeting late evening on Wednesday, senior BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad, who along with OP Dhankar was appointed as the party's two central observers, announced.
Gupta, accompanied by Prasad, Dhankar and Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva among others, met Lt Governor VK Saxena and staked claim to form the government.
Though the Law graduate from Delhi University with strong RSS roots is making her debut in the Assembly, Gupta, who hails from the Baniya community, entered politics as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member in 1992.
Born in Haryana's Julana, she has a 32-year association with the RSS and is a former Delhi civic councillor.
Gupta, who won from Shalimar Bagh defeating AAP candidate Bandana Kumari by over 29,000 votes, is set to make several records.
Here's the list of records she creates:
- Rekha Gupta becomes the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj (BJP), Sheila Dikshit (Congress) and Atishi (AAP).
- She is the only woman chief minister among the states being ruled by the BJP or in coalition with its allies at present.
- Gupta will now be the second woman chief minister in the country after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal).
- Gupta is the second chief minister of Delhi from the Shalimar Bagh constituency. The first CM was Sahib Singh Verma.
- She is the second BJP woman CM under Narendra Modi's prime ministership after former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel
- Gupta is the 18th woman chief minister in the country.
- She is the fifth BJP woman CM in the country. Sushma Swaraj (Delhi), Uma Bharti (Madhya Pradesh), Anandiben Patel (Gujarat) and Vasundhara Raje Rajasthan.
(With PTI inputs)
