CM Rekha, 6 ministers take charge

BJP’s first-time MLA Rekha Gupta was sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister of Delhi on Thursday at a grand event at Ramlila Ground, in an event that witnessed the historic return of the saffron dispensation in the national capital after a gap of 27 years.

Amid frenzied chants of “Nari Shakti Zindabad” and “Jai Shri Ram”, Rekha (50) was administered the oath of office by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.

Editorial: Surprise choice

Six ministers — Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra and Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh — also took oath before a nearly 50,000-strong gathering. Sirsa spoke in Punjabi and the rest in Hindi.

Top BJP and NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attended the event. Opposition Aam Aadmi Party leaders were conspicuous by their absence, while Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav was present.

Striking a balance: Delhi Cabinet includes faces from Sikh, Jat, Purvanchal and trader communities

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Ravinder Indraj Singh

A prominent Dalit leader, gets Social Welfare, SC/ST Welfare, Coop ministries

Kapil Mishra

Firebrand Hindutva face, gets Law & Justice, Labour, Employment, Tourism

Parvesh Verma

Defeated Kejriwal, allotted PWD, Irrigation and Flood Control, Gurdwara Poll

Rekha Gupta, CM

Keeps Finance, Planning, GAD, Women-Child Dept, Revenue, among others

Manjinder Singh Sirsa

DSGMC ex-chief, gets Food & Supplies, Forest & Environment, Industries

Ashish Sood

Will be Minister for Home, Power, Urban Development and Education

Pankaj Kumar Singh

A dentist, gets Health & Family Welfare, Transport, Information Technology

The Delhi Cabinet held its first meeting in the evening and approved the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital. It also decided to present 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the Assembly.

The choice of ministers whose appointments were notified by the Home Ministry reflects the BJP’s urge to balance castes and communities in Delhi, a cauldron of traditions which people from all states and communities call home.

While the CM hails from a leading trading segment, Verma, son of former CM Sahib Singh Verma, is a Jat; Sood a Punjabi; Indraj a noted Dalit leader; Sirsa a Sikh while Mishra and Pankaj are prominent Purvanchalis. The inclusion of two Purvanchalis in the Cabinet ahead of the Bihar Assembly poll this year is significant signalling by the BJP, which is in power in the eastern state along with the JD(U).

Congratulating the Cabinet members, PM Modi said the team “beautifully mixes vigour and experience and will surely ensure good governance for Delhi”. A review of the Cabinet reveals it has a mix of youth and experience. On the one side are seasoned politicians such as former two-time West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma, three-time MLA Sirsa, two-time MLA and former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra, and on the other are first-time MLAs Ashish Sood (Janakpuri), Pankaj Singh (Vikaspuri) and Ravinder Indraj Singh (Bawana SC). Sood, however, has years of experience in the BJP organisation and is currently party in charge for Goa and co-in charge for J&K.

The average age of the Delhi cabinet is 49.85 years with Kapil Mishra (44) the youngest minister and Sood (58) the oldest. After the swearing-in ceremony, Rekha, along with Cabinet colleagues, went to Delhi Secretariat where she formally assumed charge as CM.

In her first remarks after taking charge, she said, “We are committed to fulfilling the guarantee given to Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Every single day our government will be dedicated to fulfil the pledge of developed Delhi.”

After the swearing-in, all BJP leaders, including the CM, Delhi ministers, BJP state in charge Baijayant Panda, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, went to Yamuna banks where they performed religious rituals in a clear signal that Yamuna clean up, BJP’s poll promise in Delhi, remained high on their priority.

At Ramlila Ground, the guest list featured all sections of society from slum dwellers to heads of religious institutions to transgenders. Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda and BJP’s NDA allies Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena’s Pawan Kalyan, JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh were among those present.

The event also saw the presence of BJP-led Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders who are in power in Maharashtra. CM Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP, Ajit Pawar of the NCP and Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena were all there to stall talks of Shinde-Fadnavis tensions.