Delhi CM Oath-Ceremony: Rekha Gupta takes oath as Delhi's chief minister in presence of PM Modi

Delhi CM oath ceremony: Rekha Gupta took oath as Delhi's ninth chief minister on Thursday (February 20, 2025) in grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena administered the oath of office in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, and several NDA chief ministers and deputy chief ministers.  

#WATCH | BJP's first-time MLA Rekha Gupta takes oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Lt Governor VK Saxena administers her oath of office.

With this, Delhi gets its fourth woman CM, after BJP's Sushma Swaraj, Congress' Sheila Dikshit, and AAP's Atishi. pic.twitter.com/bU69pyvD7Y

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2025

Parvesh Verma (New Delhi), Manjinder Singh Sirsa (Rajouri Garden), Ravindra Kumar Indraj (Bawana), Kapil Mishra (Karawal Nagar), Ashish Sood (Janakpuri), and Pankaj Kumar Singh (Vikaspuri) were also sworn in as ministers in the Delhi cabinet.

Also Read: Who is Rekha Gupta, BJP's pick set to be Delhi's 4th woman chief minister?

Gupta, 50, becomes the fourth woman to hold the chief minister's post in Delhi and the only female CM currently representing a BJP-ruled state or Union Territory. A seasoned councillor, she joined the BJP in 2002 after her stint with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). She has previously served as the general secretary of Delhi BJP’s Mahila Morcha and the national vice-chairperson of BJP Mahila Morcha.  

In the recent Delhi Assembly elections, Gupta contested from Shalimar Bagh, defeating AAP’s Bandana Kumari by a margin of 29,595 votes.  

Also Read: Rekha Gupta to be delhi's new CM

BJP's comeback after 26 years  

The BJP’s return to power in Delhi marks the end of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) decade-long rule. The saffron party clinched 48 out of 70 seats in the February 5 Assembly elections, while AAP secured 21. The Congress, once a dominant force in Delhi politics, failed to win a single seat for the third consecutive election.  

The BJP secured a 45.8 per cent vote share, narrowly surpassing AAP’s 43.8 per cent. Despite its defeat, the Congress saw a marginal rise in its vote share, increasing from 4.3 per cent in 2020 to 6.4 per cent this time.  

Prominent AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and Saurabh Bharadwaj, faced electoral defeats. However, Atishi managed to retain her Kalkaji seat, defeating BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.