New Delhi:

Keeping a key poll promise, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced after the first Cabinet meeting on Thursday that her government would implement the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital. In a move that may ignite a political slugfest, the chief minister also said that 14 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports, whose tabling had allegedly been delayed by the previous AAP government, will now be presented in the Assembly.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ms Gupta said in Hindi, “During the cabinet meeting, we have taken two big decisions. The Ayushman Bharat Yojana, whose implementation had been held back by the previous government, will be implemented in Delhi with a top-up of Rs 5 lakh from the state government. PM Narendra Modi had announced the scheme for the whole nation, but Delhi could not get its benefits because of the AAP. This will be done at the earliest after the formalities are completed.”

“There are 14 CAG reports pending, which were not tabled by the previous government. They will be tabled during the first session of the Assembly. These decisions were taken today. We will take up our other commitments, give shape to each one of them and present them before you soon,” she added.

The implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana had become a major flashpoint between the AAP and the BJP. MPs from the BJP had also filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking that the scheme be made available to people in the national capital.

The AAP had, however, argued that the capital’s residents enjoy “superior” benefits under the Delhi government’s schemes and implementing Ayushman Bharat would effectively be a downgrade. The Delhi government said that the Centre had used 2011 Census data for the Ayushman Bharat scheme, rendering it “old and archaic”, and did not take the evolving circumstances of society into consideration.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj had said there was no willingness on the part of the Delhi government to implement the central scheme. Both parties had made the issue an electoral one and the BJP had promised it would implement Ayushman Bharat when it came to power.

The tabling of the 14 CAG reports, including one on the scrapped liquor policy – which had led to AAP chief and then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders going to jail – had also become a big political issue.  

This matter was also being litigated in the Delhi High Court, which had, last month, refused to order a special session of the Assembly to discuss the reports. The bench had, however, noted the delay in their tabling. 

Atishi’s Dare

Ahead of the first cabinet meeting, former chief minister Atishi had urged to BJP to implement its other poll promise of giving Rs 2,500 a month to eligible women. When Chief Minister Gupta was asked about this, however, she said, “It is our government, the agenda will be ours. Ask her (Atishi) why she did not implement it when the AAP was in power.”

Atishi responded, saying that the women of Delhi were hoping the BJP would fulfil its promise, but the party had failed to do so. “The BJP has started breaking its promises on the first day itself,” she alleged.

The BJP secured 48 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections, returning to power in the national capital after 26 years and reducing the once-formidable AAP to just 22. 

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her ministers, hours after taking oath, made a beeline for Yamuna at Vasudev Ghat, where they are participating in the river “aarti” -inspired by the daily evening ceremony at the ghats of Ganga at Haridwar and Varanasi. The gesture – apart from being a political message of the party’s comeback after 26 years — was also a reaffirmation of the BJP’s promise to clean up the river that was once the lifeblood of the centuries-old city but is now little more than a drain.

“We will fulfil all the promises that we have made… At 5 PM, we will go to Yamuna Ghat for aarti. The cabinet meeting will be held at 7 pm,” the Chief Minister had said while assuming charge at the Delhi Secretariat and meeting officials and leaders.

Ahead of the assembly polls, the BJP promised a clean Yamuna in three years. The promise was reinforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the victory celebrations of the party. PM Modi had promised to make Yamuna “The identity of Delhi.”

“I have pledged during the election campaign that we will make Yamuna ji the identity of Delhi. I know this is not very difficult. No matter how much time is taken, no matter how much energy is used, but if the resolve is strong, then blessings of Yamuna ji will remain with us,” he had said in his victory speech.

In its election manifesto, the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Patra”, the BJP had said it would set up a “Yamuna Kosh” for the revitalisation and the riverfront development project.

For now, the four-fold plan for the clear-up announced by the Lieutenant Governor’s office involves the removal of trash and silt from the river and the drains — including the Najafgarh drain that contributes the most to the pollution — expanding the sewage treatment capacity to 1,000 million gallons per day and common effluent treatment plant capacity to 220 MLD. 

The LG had also promised regular monitoring not only for the industrial units but also the sewage and waste water treatment plants. 

The work started on Sunday, four days ahead of the Chief Minister’s oath ceremony. Officials from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office said trans and silt removal has started with skimmers, weed harvesters and a dredger.

The BJP came to power in Delhi after 28 years in the assembly election held earlier this month, winning 48 of the 70 assembly seats. Apart from the corruption allegations against Arvind  Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, civic issues – the condition of the Yamuna, air pollution and AAP’s failure to clean up the city despite having control of the civic body – played a huge part in the BJP victory.

The Yamuna pollution issue was the eleventh-hour addition to the campaign, with Arvind Kejriwal’s allegation that the BJP government Haryana is “poisoning” the river water. 

The BJP and the Congress lost no time in pointing out that AAP has failed to deliver on its promise to clean up the river, despite spending Rs 6000-plus crore over the last five years. 

New Delhi:

Rekha Gupta took oath Thursday afternoon as Chief Minister of Delhi – the fourth woman and fourth Bharatiya Janata Party leader to hold that post. Her nomination late last night followed 12 days of suspense and speculation over whom the BJP might pick to follow Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi.

The answer, when it came, was unexpected.

Ms Gupta, the ex-President of the Delhi University Students’ Union and a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh in northwest Delhi, was not the name the BJP was expected to put forward.

She was on the shortlist, yes. Sources did tell NDTV Ms Gupta and all three of the party’s women MLAs were being considered, but all of the talk was about Parvesh Verma, the ‘giant-slayer’.

No-Go For Parvesh Verma

After all, Mr Verma is a two-time Delhi Lok Sabha MP and is the son of former BJP Chief Minister Saheb Singh Verma. He also defeated Arvind Kejriwal for the New Delhi seat, and two of the last three Delhi Chief Ministers – Mr Kejriwal and the Congress’ Sheila Dikshit – won that constituency.

And there were other names seen as ahead of Ms Gupta, including Satish Upadhyay, the party’s Brahmin face, and Vijender Gupta, who was earlier the Leader of the Opposition.

READ | BJP’s Delhi ‘Wapsi‘ Complete, Focus Now On Chief Minister Question

By contrast, Ms Gupta – though one of Delhi’s longest-serving councillors – was a low-key figure.

And it was a surprise, even to her. Ms Gupta told NDTV that when she left her home Wednesday evening, to attend a MLAs meet, she had no idea she would return as Chief Minister.

READ | “Knew When Parvesh Verma…”: Rekha Gupta On Chief Minister News

But the BJP’s pick shouldn’t be a surprise because the party has sprung a few of them in the past few years, most notably in 2023, when it picked three unfancied individuals as chief ministers.

BJP’s 2024 ‘Gameplan’

There were nine full Assembly elections in 2023. The BJP (and/or its allies) won five – Tripura, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Of these, NDPP leader Neiphiu Rio, an ally of the BJP, remained Chief Minister in Nagaland and the party held on to Manik Saha in Tripura. For the other three, two of which (Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh) were flipped from the Congress, the BJP sprang a hat-trick of surprises.

And this is the point – big names were ignored then – Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh – as they were this week, in Delhi.

Instead, Bhajan Lal Sharma was installed in Rajasthan, Vishnu Deo Sai in Chhattisgarh, and Mohan Yadav in Madhya Pradesh. Sources told NDTV this was a calibrated effort by the BJP to balance caste-class demands ahead of the Lok Sabha election, which came six months later.

NDTV Explains | BJP’s 2024 Gameplan Behind Hattrick Of Heartland Surprises

For example, in Chhattisgarh, a state where tribal communities form 32 per cent of the population, the BJP opted for a tribal leader. Madhya Pradesh got a Chief Minister from the Yadav community and Brahmin and Dalit deputies. And Rajasthan got a Brahmin leader and Rajput and Dalit deputies.

Vishnu Deo Sai (R) and Mohan Yadav, the BJP’s surprise picks for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh (File).

Before and after 2023, i.e., in 2022 and 2024 the BJP opted to retain Chief Ministers, including keeping Nayab Saini in Haryana and restoring Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.

BJP’s Delhi Move

The BJP selecting Rekha Gupta, sources told NDTV, reflects the same balancing act.

The party wanted a Vaishya face as its leader because its first three Chief Ministers – Madan Lal Khurana, Saheb Singh, and Sushma Swaraj – represented the Punjabi, Jat, and Brahmin communities. To that end, Vijender Gupta was an option, but Rekha Gupta ticked a box he couldn’t – gender.

READ | Rekha Gupta Sworn In As Delhi Chief Minister With PM On Stage

Ms Gupta meant the BJP could point to a Vaishya and a woman as its leader.

Over To Bihar?

Ms Gupta’s selection could also be an indication of how things might play out in Bihar, where elections are due this year. At present, Nitish Kumar is Chief Minister even if his JDU is a minority partner. Sources have confirmed the BJP will fight with him as the chief ministerial candidate.

However, should the saffron party come back to power and keep, or even extend its lead over Nitish Kumar, a change is possible.

In that case, the question of who could succeed him arises, and it could be the BJP looks to spring a surprise here too, ignoring senior leaders like ex-Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad and ex-Union Ministers Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Ravi Shankar Prasad in favour of another left-field choice.

Who that might be (assuming, of course, that Nitish Kumar does not remain) will be revealed then.

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New Delhi:

Delhi’s new Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s old posts on social media in which she took swipes at former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal are being cited by her followers as well as critics since Wednesday evening, when the confirmation of her name for the top post came.

While supporters of Ms Gupta, 50, a first-time MLA from the BJP, shared the old posts to mock Mr Kejriwal’s defeat in the Delhi election after the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) power run of 10 years, the supporters of the AAP chief drew attention to what they described as inappropriate language used by Ms Gupta in attacking her political rival.

BJP supporters have indicated on social media that Ms Gupta’s old posts showed she has been a fierce and consistent critic of Mr Kejriwal and the previous AAP government in Delhi. She used a variety of memes to mock the AAP chief.

YouTuber Tushar Gupta, who runs the policy and politics channel ‘The Atom’, in a post on X said Ms Gupta’s old posts are being regurgitated by “haters” because she took on Mr Kejriwal when the AAP was seen to be popular in the national capital after sweeping the assembly elections twice.

“People are hating on Rekha Gupta, the new Chief Minister of Delhi, picking up her old tweets. They don’t care for the language, they just hate the fact that someone was answering back to Arvind Kejriwal and Co in the language they best understand,” the YouTuber said.

Some AAP supporters shared screenshots of Ms Gupta’s old posts criticising Mr Kejriwal with memes on X (formerly Twitter), which have been deleted.

Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose was one of the Opposition leaders who posted about Ms Gupta’s old tweets.

“Disturbing reports on social media on Delhi’s new Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s past abusive language and rowdyism. What a far cry from the hard working and gracious Sheila Dixit and the articulate parliamentarian Sushma Swaraj. But this is the ‘new’ BJP where vicious abuse and vitriol have been normalised,” Ms Ghose alleged.

The X user, Nyaksha, responded to the Trinamool MP, “The dynamic language was rightly used against corrupt ministers. And with that intent, it still sounds better than ‘hamba hamba, bamba bamba, khamba khamba.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the “humba humba” comment in February 2021 aimed at her former colleagues who joined the BJP. The Bengal chief minister made the comments in reference to the clip clops that a bovine animal makes as it walks.

The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 26 years. Some of the first steps it will take include fulfilling key election promises, continuing welfare schemes of the previous AAP government, finding a solution to Delhi’s pollution and infrastructure issues, and cleaning the River Yamuna.

The party won 48 seats in the 70-member assembly, putting a full stop on the AAP’s decade-long Delhi march. The AAP won 22 seats, a catastrophic decline from its strong position five years ago.

New Delhi:

BJP’s Rekha Gupta took oath as the new Chief Minister of Delhi along with her six cabinet colleagues today. Ms Gupta, a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, was sworn in at a grand ceremony at the iconic Ramlila Maidan, 11 days after her party returned to power in the national capital after more than 26 years.

Rekha Gupta’s Net Worth

According to Rekha Gupta’s affidavit submitted to the Election Commission (EC) before the 2025 Delhi assembly elections, she declared her total income as Rs 6,92,050 in the financial year 2023-24.

Her moveable assets were worth Rs 1.25 crore, she said in the affidavit filed on January 15. She also had immovable assets worth Rs 2.3 crore.

The 50-year-old politician has loans worth Rs 48.44 lakh.

Her affidavit showed that she owns two residential properties, one of which is co-owned with her husband, Manish Gupta. 

She does not own any vehicle and has jewellery worth Rs 18 lakh.

Mr Gupta’s income in the financial year 2023-2024 was Rs 97,33,570. His movable assets are worth Rs 1.14 crore and immovable assets are worth Rs 30 lakh.

Rekha Gupta: Delhi’s Fourth Woman Chief Minister

Rekha Gupta, a former president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), has become the fourth woman Chief Minister of Delhi after BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, Congress’ Sheila Dikshit, and Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi. 

She defeated AAP candidate Bandana Kumari by over 29,000 votes from the Shalimar Bagh seat in the February 5 Assembly polls. Notably, Ms Gupta contested the Shalimar Bagh seat in both the 2015 and 2020 Delhi elections but was defeated by AAP’s Bandana Kumari in both years. 

Born on July 19, 1974, in Nandgarh village of Jind district in Haryana, Ms Gupta’s father served as a bank officer. In 1976, her family moved to neighbouring Delhi.

As a student at Delhi University, she joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). 

Her active involvement in student politics led to her election as the President of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) for the 1996-1997 term. She also served as the Secretary of Dyal Singh College and was deeply engaged in student activism, which propelled her further into public life.

Her political career with the BJP began in the early 2000s. She joined the party’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), and held the role of secretary in the Delhi unit. 

She was then appointed the National Secretary of BJYM from 2004 to 2006. 

In 2007, she was elected as a councillor in the MCD elections, representing the North Pitampura constituency. 

She went on to serve as the President of the Women’s Welfare and Child Development Committee in MCD from 2007 to 2009.

New Delhi:

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rekha Gupta was sworn in Thursday afternoon as Chief Minister of Delhi in a grand oath-taking ceremony at the city’s Ramlila Maidan.

Ms Gupta becomes the BJP’s fourth Delhi Chief Minister and its second woman leader to hold the post. She is also the fourth woman Chief Minister of Delhi, following from the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, the Congress’ Sheila Dikshit, and the AAP’s Atishi, her immediate predecessor.

Six of her party colleagues, including Parvesh Verma – who earned himself the ‘giant-killer’ moniker by defeating AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal for the New Delhi constituency, and was widely seen as a frontrunner for the Chief Minister’s chair – were inducted into the cabinet.

Mr Verma was sworn in second, after Ms Gupta, who took her oath with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP President JP Nadda looking on, as too were chief ministers from states ruled by the party and its allies, such as Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu.

Also featuring prominently were senior members of the union cabinet, such as Rajnath Singh and Hardeep Singh Puri, and members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Kapil Sharma, Manjinder Sirsa, Ashish Sood, Pankaj Kumar Singh, and Ravinder Indraj Singh were also sworn in to the new cabinet, which has room for three more ministers.

READ | Parvesh Verma, Kapil Mishra In Rekha Gupta’s 6-Member Council

The BJP has also nominated former Leader of the Opposition, Vijender Gupta, as the new Speaker of the Delhi Assembly. Mr Gupta returns to the Assembly a decade after he was physically evicted by marshals amid a row with counterparts from the then-ruling AAP.

READ | Thrown Out, Literally, In 2015, BJP’s Vijender Gupta Now Speaker

Ms Gupta, a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, a seat she wrested from the AAP’s Bandana Kumari, who had held it since 2013, was a surprise pick for the top post.

READ | “Came To Know When Parvesh Verma…”: Rekha Gupta On CM News

Confirmation of her appointment came late Wednesday after meetings of the BJP’s Parliamentary Board, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and of the party’s new MLAs.

The meetings had been delayed by nearly two weeks after the poll results, as the party deliberated and, also, waited for Mr Modi to return from his trip to France and the United States.

READ | “Committed To Taking Delhi To New Heights”: Rekha Gupta

In her first remarks after being nominated as Chief Minister, Ms Gupta said she stands committed to “taking Delhi to new heights” and vowed to work with “full honesty, integrity and dedication for the welfare, empowerment and overall development of every citizen of Delhi”.

She also thanked the Prime Minister and the BJP’s top leadership for their faith.

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New Delhi:

The new Delhi government led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will have six cabinet ministers, including former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra. A Union Home Ministry notification on Thursday said that President Droupadi Murmu, on the advice of Ms Gupta, appointed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj, Kapil Mishra and Pankaj Kumar Singh as ministers of the Delhi government.

They took oath along with Ms Gupta in a grand ceremony at the Ramlila Ground, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries.

Here are the six ministers on Rekha Gupta’s new Delhi team:

Parvesh Verma

Parvesh Verma, a two-time BJP MP, defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat. Mr Verma is a prominent Jat face in the national capital.

Born on November 7, 1977, he is the son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, and later earned an MBA from the Fore School of Management.

Rekha Gupta offers sweets to Parvesh Verma after she was named the new Chief Minister of Delhi
Photo Credit: ANI

Mr Verma is married to Swati Singh, the daughter of former Union Minister and BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Vikram Verma. They have three children.

Kapil Mishra

Kapil Mishra, a former AAP leader, won the Karawal Nagar constituency on a BJP ticket. Born on November 13, 1980, in Delhi, he is the son of Annapurna Mishra, a former East Delhi mayor, and Rameshwar Mishra, a socialist leader. He completed his education at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Kapil Mishra during a public meeting at Karawal Nagar in Delhi on February 1
Photo Credit: ANI

He was appointed Delhi’s water resources minister in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government. In 2017, he was sacked from the cabinet and joined the BJP in 2019.

He was also accused of making hate speeches during communal riots in Delhi in 2020.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa

Manjinder Singh Sirsa is the Sikh face of the BJP. He won the 2025 Delhi assembly elections from Rajouri Garden.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa shows a victory sign after winning the Rajouri Garden seat in the Delhi Assembly Election on February 8
Photo Credit: ANI

A three-time MLA, Mr Sirsa was earlier associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Ashish Sood

Ashish Sood is a known face in Delhi’s Punjabi community. Born on September 2, 1966, Mr Sood, a first-time MLA from Janakpuri, is a senior leader with some hands-on experience in administrative matters gained during BJP’s rule in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

He has also been the vice president of BJP’s Delhi unit.

Ashish Sood with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a poll rally in Delhi on January 31

He is also BJP’s in-charge for Goa, and co-in-charge for the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit.

Pankaj Kumar Singh 

BJP’s Pankaj Kumar Singh is a first-time MLA from Vikaspuri.

Pankaj Kumar Singh shows a victory sign as he arrives at the Delhi BJP office in New Delhi after the Assembly election results
Photo Credit: PTI

A Purvanchali leader, Mr Singh is a dentist by profession.

Ravinder Indraj Singh

Ravinder Indraj Singh is BJP’s Dalit leader. He won the Bawana (SC) seat by more than 31,000 votes.

He has also been an executive member of BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha.

New Delhi:

With Rekha Gupta set to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Delhi on Thursday afternoon, Manish Gupta, the Chief Minister-designate’s husband expressed his happiness for his wife getting such an opportunity, likening it to a ‘miracle.’

“We never thought that she (Rekha Gupta) would become the Chief Minister of Delhi. It seems like a miracle… It is a matter of happiness for us that the party has given us so much respect,” he told reporters here today.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and MLA representing the Shalimar Bagh assembly constituency, will be taking oath as Delhi Chief Minister at Ramlila Maidan. Along with her, six other MLAs will take oath as ministers in the cabinet today.

Thanking PM Modi and the BJP party leadership Rekha Gupta said, “Delhi Chief Minister 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 second priority is that all our 48 MLAs will work as a team modi. I never thought I would be a CM of Delhi. The previous corrupt government would have to give the account of each rupee belonging to the people.”

The swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected government will take place at 12:15 pm.

Parvesh Sahib Singh. Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Kumar Singh are also among the MLAs who will take oath as ministers.

Rekha Gupta will be the fourth woman Chief Minister of Delhi succeeding Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi. This continues a tradition that has been difficult for other parts of the country to match. Delhi has had women Chief Ministers from the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party.

She has served as general secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha in Delhi and as a member of its national executive committee. In these roles, she initiated numerous campaigns for the welfare of marginalized communities and women.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other Union Ministers and NDA Chief Ministers will attend the swearing-in ceremony.

BJP won 48 seats out of 70 seats, while Aam Aadmi Party could win only 22 seats in the assembly polls held earlier this month. Congress could not open its account for the third successive election.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

More than 25,000 security personnel and over 15 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Delhi for Thursday’s oath ceremony of the new chief minister at Ramlila Maidan, a police officer said.

The ceremony is likely to be attended by top party leaders, including chief ministers from BJP-governed states.

“We have deployed more than 25,000 police personnel and over 15 companies of paramilitary forces,” the officer said and added “robust” security arrangements were in place to maintain law and order.

“More than 5,000 police and paramilitary force personnel are deployed in and around Ramlila Maidan. Around 2,500 strategic points were identified where heavy deployment has already been made,” he added.

First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who would get the top post following the BJP’s return to power after more than 26 years, ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.

Ms Gupta (50) was chosen as Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly at the BJP legislature party meeting late on Wednesday, senior BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad announced.

Ms Gupta later met Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and staked claim to form the government.

Only authorised people will be allowed near the venue and a proper traffic plan has been chalked out, the police said.

Along with other emergency response teams, multiple layers of barricades will be set up to ensure the dignitaries’ safety and security.

Around 50,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Cabinet colleagues and chief ministers of National Democratic Alliance-governed states, among others, are expected to attend the ceremony.

The police said commandos, quick reaction teams, PCR vans, and SWAT teams had been deployed at strategic locations while snipers were positioned at high-rise buildings nearby.

Every nook and cranny are being monitored through AI-based facial recognition CCTV cameras, they added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi’s Chief Minister elect, the BJP’s Rekha Gupta, will take oath today with six cabinet colleagues. The BJP, which is coming back to power in the national capital after 26 years, has planned a grand ceremony at the iconic Ramlila maidan.