NEW DELHI: Another state, another surprise pick. The BJP has done it again. On Wednesday, the BJP, which returned to power in Delhi after 27 long years, picked first-time MLA Rekha Gupta as its chief minister. While the announcement ended days of suspense and speculation, it did reinforce the notion that being a heavyweight or a frontrunner for the top post in any BJP-ruled state is actually a disadvantage.
The likes of Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta – party’s old warhorses in Delhi, would perhaps have known the disadvantages of being frontrunners in this race even as they would have hoped for an exception from the party high command.
When it comes to selecting chief ministers, the BJP’s script has been the same – state after state. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat, Haryana – all these BJP-ruled states have chief ministers who were relatively unknown figures in the party till they were picked to lead the state. The heavyweights and the frontrunners in these states lost the race to the top post.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself leading the campaign in all state elections, the BJP uses CM pick keeping in mind long-term gains for the party.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Goa CM Pramod Sawant and Uttarakhand’s Pushkar Singh Dhami are some of the BJP chief ministers who could buck the trend and continue with the top post after the party’s victory.
To that extent, Rekha Gupta should consider herself lucky as her name was also doing the rounds for the top post in Delhi. A number of factors could have helped Rekha Gupta pip the heavyweights, who played crucial role in BJP’s victory.
- Rekha Gupta will be the only woman chief minister among the states being ruled by the BJP at present.
- She enjoys close ties with the RSS and is actively engaged with women-related matters.
- Gupta is also the national vice president of BJP Mahila Morcha and a member of the party’s national executive.
- She is a former president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) and a civic body councillor.
- Rekha Gupta entered politics as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member in 1992.
Immediately after the formal announcement, the Delhi CM-designate thanked the top BJP leadership for reposing confidence in her. “I thank the top leadership from my heart for its belief in me for entrusting me with the post of Chief Minister. This faith and support have evoked a new energy and motivation in me. I pledge to strive with total honesty, commitment and dedication for the welfare of the residents of Delhi. I am fully committed to the significant responsibility of taking Delhi to a new pinnacle,” she said in a post on X in Hindi.