New Delhi: Rekha Gupta was administered oath of office and secrecy by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top NDA ministers and a host of CMs of BJP-ruled states. Rekha Gupta has become the fourth BJP Chief Minister in Delhi and also the fourth woman CM of the national Capital.
Her Council of Ministers also took oath of office at Ramlila Maidan and will soon be assigned portfolios. They include Parvesh Singh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj, Kapil Mishra and Pankaj Kumar Singh.
Rekha Gupta’s Delhi team will hit the ground running, soon after taking charge of their respective departments.
However, the composition of Rekha Gupta’s Cabinet has drawn attention of all owing to its representation of multiple communities, reinforcing the BJP’s caste and regional calculations as seen during the intense campaign for the Delhi Assembly polls.
The newly sworn-in Cabinet boasts of Jat as well as Sikh faces and has members from the Punjabi, Purvanchali and SC community.
Parvesh Singh Verma: The two-time BJP MP became a giant slayer as he trounced AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi constituency. He is a prominent Jat leader of the party and the son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa: He is one of the leading Sikh faces of the BJP in the national Capital. In the past few years, he has been articulate and vociferous in putting forth the party’s views on issues related to the Sikh community. He won the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections from Rajouri Garden. Prior to his stint with BJP, he was associated with Shiromani Akali Dal.
Kapil Mishra: He is one of the firebrand leaders who defeated his rival by a significant margin from the Karawal Nagar constituency. He is the son of Annapurna Mishra, former East Delhi Mayor. He joined the BJP in 2019 after snapping ties with Kejriwal-led AAP. He also served as minister in the Kejriwal government. Kapil Mishra shot to fame during the anti-CAA protests in 2020.
Ashish Sood: A first time MLA from Janakpuri is the vice-president of the BJP’s Delhi unit. In his previous role, he served as the party’s incharge for Goa as well as Jammu and Kashmir. Sood, a known Punjabi face in the city defeated Praveen Kumar of the AAP in Janakpuri constituency.
Pankaj Kumar Singh: A Purvanchali leader and dentist by profession, he is also the first-time MLA from Vikaspuri constituency. His elevation to the Cabinet rank assumes significance as the BJP went the whole hog in wooing Purvanchalis, the migrant population from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which enjoy considerable clout in the national Capital, in terms of votes.
Ravinder Indraj Singh: He is the party’s Dalit leader and also served as executive member of the BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha. He won the Bawana (SC) seat by more than 31,000 votes.
(IANS)
