
Delhi's wait for its new chief minister ended on Wednesday night, with the BJP naming Rekha Gupta for the top post. Rekha Gupta, who will be Delhi's fourth woman chief minister, will take oath tomorrow at the historic Ramlila Ground.
Rekha Gupta had won the Shalimar Bagh seat against AAP's Bandana Kumari and Congress's Parveen Kumar Jain. She won the seat by a margin of 29.595 votes.
Rekha Gupta, a first-time MLA, brings years of political experience to the table. Her journey began with student politics at Delhi University She has served three terms as a municipal councillor and previously held the position of mayor in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
Following the BJP's decisive victory in the Assembly polls on February 8, sources had said that a woman legislator would likely be picked as Delhi's Chief Minister, with Rekha Gupta's name among the top contenders.
Hourse before the official announcement, sources had indicated that the party may appoint someone from the Baniya community, which has a huge voter base in Delhi, to lead the government in the national capital. The names of three leaders from the community-- Vijender Gupta, Rekha Gupta, and Jitender Mahajan-- were doing the rounds as top contenders for the post.
Notably, Rekha Gupta is the only woman Chief Minister from the current group of BJP Chief Ministers.
The BJP, which came back to power in Delhi after 27 years, had focused on wooing women voters, with the manifesto promising Rs 2,500 monthly aid for women, Rs 21,000 for pregnant women, and pensions for seniors, aiming to empower women. The BJP's promises were an attempt to one-up AAP, which had promised a monthly benefit of Rs 2,100 for women if it was elected for a third term.