Delhi CM Rekha Gupta Allocates Portfolios, Retains Finance and Services

For the first time in 27 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been able to form its government in Delhi, winning the recently held Assembly Elections. Rekha Gupta was sworn in as the chief minister, along with six other ministers, in a grand ceremony at Ramlila Ground on Thursday.

As the newly elected chief minister, Rekha Gupta has retained charge of 10 important departments such as finance, services, vigilance, revenue, and women and child development. She will also head planning, information and public relations, land and building, general administration, and administrative reforms. Moreover, any department not exclusively allocated to other ministers will be under her command.

After a Cabinet meeting, Gupta spoke to the media, revealing the portfolio allocations and confirming that 14 long-pending reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) would be tabled in the first session of the Delhi Assembly.

Among his party members, Parvesh Verma was given important departments like the Public Works Department (PWD), water, legislative affairs, irrigation and flood control, and gurdwara elections. Ashish Sood was entrusted with home affairs, power, education, urban development, higher education, and training and technical education.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa was given charge of food and supplies, forest and environment, and industries, and Ravinder Singh (Indraj) got social welfare, SC & ST welfare, cooperatives, and elections.

Kapil Mishra, who has a reputation for being a hardline Hindutva believer, was given the charge of law and justice, labour, employment, development, art and culture, language, and tourism.

Pankaj Kumar Singh was also appointed to look after health and family welfare, transport, and information technology.

Addressing after the oath-taking, Gupta, who is a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, reiterated that her administration would not lose any time in working towards realizing the vision of 'Viksit Delhi.' She reaffirmed the BJP's commitment to fulfilling its promises to citizens of the capital.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top BJP leadership, and partners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Gupta’s appointment makes her the fourth woman to serve as Delhi’s chief minister, following in the footsteps of BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, Congress’ Sheila Dikshit, and AAP’s Atishi. At 50, she also stands as the only woman chief minister within the NDA and the second in the country after Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.