Who is Rekha Gupta, first-time MLA, BJP’s pick for Delhi CM?

Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared her name after the Delhi legislature party meeting on Wednesday (February 19). The Shalimar Bagh MLA will take oath on Thursday at Ramlila Maidan.

The BJP has returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, winning 48 out of 70 Assembly seats. The saffron party defeated the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to rule over Delhi after nearly three decades.

Rekha Gupta will be sworn in as Delhi CM, along with her new cabinet ministers, at a grand ceremony tomorrow. But who is she?

श्रीमती रेखा गुप्ता जी को दिल्ली भाजपा विधायक दल का नेता चुने जाने पर हार्दिक बधाई एवं अशेष शुभकामनाएँ।

हमें पूर्ण विश्वास है कि आपके नेतृत्व में प्रदेश उत्तरोत्तर प्रगति करेगा। pic.twitter.com/K8Mu5SyvdV

— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) February 19, 2025

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Let’s take a closer look.

1. Rekha Gupta, 50, is a first-time MLA who is set to become Delhi’s next CM. She will become the fourth woman to lead the National Capital. Gupta is succeeding AAP’s Atishi for the top job. The Congress ’ Sheila Dikshit and the late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj were the other women who occupied the coveted post.

2. Gupta is also the fourth leader from the BJP to helm Delhi after Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, and Swaraj – all of who ruled between 1993 and 1998. As per sources, her name was proposed by Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay at the BJP legislature party meeting.

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3. Gupta, a senior BJP leader, began her political career as President of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) from 1996 to 1997. She later entered municipal politics and won the Delhi Councillor elections from Uttari Pitampura (Ward 54) in 2007. She was re-elected in 2012.

4. Gupta has also served as the Mayor of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). The BJP leader unsuccessfully challenged AAP’s Shelly Oberoi in the 2022 MCD mayoral elections.

5. Gupta has old ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and was a member of its students’ wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Originally hailing from Haryana’s Jind, Gupta defeated AAP’s Bandana Kumari by a margin of 29,595 votes from the Shalimar Bagh (North-West) seat in the 2025 Delhi elections.

6. A lawyer by profession, Gupta graduated from Delhi University’s Daulat Ram College. She is a grassroots leader who rose through the ranks in the BJP. Gupta has served as the secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s (BJYM) Delhi unit, general secretary of the Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha, and a member of the BJP’s National Executive. Currently, she is the General Secretary of Delhi BJP.

7. Gupta was seen among the frontrunners for the Delhi CM’s post. Some other names doing the rounds were Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta, Ashish Sood, Shikha Roy, Manoj Tiwari, and Bansuri Swaraj. The Delhi CM-designate will have her task cut out for her as sources told News18 that the BJP’s top leadership and the Centre expect “visible results” on the streets of Delhi within the first 100 days of the formation of the new government.

8. In her first remarks since the announcement, Gupta thanked the BJP leadership. “I extend my gratitude to the BJP top leadership and the legislative party for appointing me as the Chief Minister of Delhi. I am fully prepared to take on this responsibility and work towards the development of Delhi,” she wrote in a post on X.

With inputs from agencies