Rekha Gupta, a former president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), has been named as the new Chief Minister of Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Wednesday evening, ending nearly two weeks of speculation.

With this, she becomes the fifth woman Chief Minister from the BJP, following Sushma Swaraj (Delhi), Uma Bharti (Madhya Pradesh), Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan), and Anandiben Patel (Gujarat). She is also Delhi’s fourth woman CM, after BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, Congress’ Sheila Dikshit, and AAP’s Atishi.

The 50-year-old first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh secured a decisive victory in the February 5 Assembly elections, defeating AAP’s Bandana Kumari by over 29,000 votes. Notably, Gupta had contested the same seat in 2015 and 2020 but lost both times to AAP’s Bandana Kumari.

Rekha Gupta will take oath as Delhi’s new CM tomorrow at noon in a grand swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan.

Born on July 19, 1974, in Jind district, Haryana, Gupta’s family moved to Delhi in 1976. She actively participated in student politics at Delhi University, joining the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Her political career took off when she was elected President of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) for the 1996-97 term. She also served as the Secretary of Dyal Singh College and later became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), holding the position of National Secretary (2004-06).

In 2007, Gupta was elected as an MCD councillor from North Pitampura and went on to serve as the President of the Women’s Welfare and Child Development Committee in MCD (2007-09). She held several key positions in the BJP, including General Secretary of the Delhi BJP Women’s Wing and National Executive Member of the party.

The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, securing a two-thirds majority with 48 seats in the 70-member assembly. The ruling AAP suffered a major setback, dropping to 22 seats, while the Congress failed to open its account for the third consecutive time.