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Ten days after the poll results came out, the BJP finally announced its Delhi CM pick. Several challenges lie ahead, with the saffron party sending big messages to the people of Delhi by promising what has not been delivered in the past decade
Rekha Gupta to become Delhi’s next chief minister. (Pic: PTI)
The BJP announced on Wednesday that the leader of its Delhi legislative party, and consequently its chief ministerial pick, will be Rekha Gupta, who was elected MLA from the Shalimar Bagh constituency this month. The problem with the Bharatiya Janata Party in this election, which it won with a comprehensive two-thirds majority by securing 48 out of 70 seats, was a problem of plenty. However, sources said great thought has gone into the saffron party picking a young woman leader for the chief minister’s post.
Women’s empowerment in letter and spirit seems to be the biggest message that the saffron party wants to send to the voters of Delhi by putting Gupta at the forefront. The feedback given to the BJP from the ground has also been that one of the reasons women decided to desert the ship of the Aam Aadmi Party was the kind of disrespect meted out to Swati Maliwal and also by ruling out “interim CM” Atishi as the face of the government if brought back to power. It became clear to the public that Atishi was used as the chief ministerial pick only as a stopgap arrangement since Kejriwal wanted to return to the chair.
In the past, when the BJP had a government in Delhi, though only for a short while, Sushma Swaraj was its face. Swaraj had been a vociferous leader and someone who was said to be the face of women in the BJP. She was later given multiple positions, including being the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the external affairs minister of the country.
Women had supported Arvind Kejriwal because of his promises to deliver basic services like water, electricity, and sanitation. Throughout the two terms of 10 years, the Kejriwal government was unable to fully deliver on the promises, said sources, including the freebies that were promised to every household in which women are crucial stakeholders.
The saffron party is also known to bring in new faces and infuse fresh energy, and a 51-year-old CM might just be what the double-engine government requires in the national capital. Examples of young leaders being given an opportunity in the past include Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.
With the BJP also eyeing the elections in states like Bihar at the end of the year, this message might also be well received. The Bania community is a prosperous one in various parts of the country, including the national capital.
Ten days after the poll results came out, the BJP finally announced its Delhi CM pick. Several challenges lie ahead, with the saffron party sending big messages to the people of Delhi by promising what has not been delivered in the past decade.
Also, apart from being women leaders, Sushma Swaraj and Rekha Gupta both hail from Haryana. It seems that the road to the chief minister’s chair in Delhi for the saffron party goes through Haryana.
