Rekha Gupta was sworn in as Delhi's Chief Minister along with six other ministers. The BJP returned to power in the capital after 27 years.
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00:00Rekha Gupta takes oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi, making her the fourth woman to hold
00:15the reins of the National Capital.
00:45Along with the Chief Minister, six others took oath.
00:48Giant slayer Parvesh Verma, who defeated Arvind Kejriwal, Sikh leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa,
00:54Purvanchali faces Kapil Mishra and Pankaj Singh, Punjabi leader Ashish Sood and Dalit
00:59face Ravindra Raj are now part of Team Rekha.
01:27The grand swearing-in ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday turned into a show of strength
01:41of the BJP, which returned to power in the capital after 27 years.
01:49In attendance were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Ministers
01:54from NDA-ruled states.
02:38Women leaders and supporters too were in attendance, a signal of the empowerment from
03:09the capital.
03:14Team Rekha takes charge of the capital and the new government has got down to business.
03:19The BJP has declared it will expose corruption under the earlier Aam Aadmi Party government.
03:24Bureau report, India Today.
03:27Alright, as Team BJP Delhi kicks off, let's get in some of the top political analysts
03:33and journalists to dissect what does the Delhi cabinet mean in terms of the seven
03:40ministers that were sworn in today and what's the messaging that is being sent out through
03:45that and what can Delhi expect.
03:47Neerja Chaudhary, senior journalist and columnist with us, Ashutosh, author, political analyst,
03:52Siddharth Mishra, senior journalist, Pankaj Vora, senior journalist.
03:55I want to cut across to Pankaj Vora first.
03:57Pankaj Vora, seven of these leaders sworn in, seven ministers, in all probability we
04:03are going to get a deputy in terms of Parvesh Verma, the Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and
04:08the five others that were sworn in today.
04:11What do you make of them?
04:15Well, some of the names are on expected lines but it is going to be a very difficult, you
04:21know, path ahead for Rekha Gupta.
04:24She has some very dominating and very aggressive people who have joined her council of ministers.
04:32There are many who also nurse ambitions or had ambitions of being chief ministers themselves
04:39and you know, going by the experience, because somewhere at the back of the mind of the BJP
04:44central leadership will also be the five years when BJP came to power between 1993 and 1998
04:50when they had three chief ministers despite the fact that, you know, Madanlal Khurana
04:55was an iconic leader who had, you know, led them to victory in 1993 but later, you know,
05:01he had resigned.
05:02Mr. Saheb Singh Verma had to also resign subsequently and Sushma Swaraj had a very short tenure.
05:08So, you know, Rekha Gupta will have to keep a watch and will have to, at every given opportunity,
05:16you know, take the help of central leadership to ensure that there is no sort of, you know,
05:24backbiting or, you know, any hurdles which are thrown in our path.
05:28But Mr. Vora, you know, for somebody, I'm sorry I'm interrupting you but I'll just ask
05:31you a counter.
05:32For someone who's covered the Delhi politics for so long and you've seen various seasons
05:37of, you know, Delhi politics, isn't this a different BJP?
05:41Because clearly yesterday on the face of it, you saw everyone fall in line.
05:45Yes, the Delhi BJP unit has been fragmented in the past, lots of infighting, but is it
05:50different this time?
05:52Can they actually be dissent because it seems all-consuming when it comes down to the high
05:55command?
05:56No, the thing is that the high command is very strong right now.
06:02Mr. Modi is the undisputed leader, but Mr. Modi is not going to be doing micromanagement
06:07on day-to-day level.
06:08There will be, you know, when you are in administration, there are so many practical things that come
06:14in your path and you have to overcome those.
06:17You know, there is a clear division of authority, there's multiplicity of authority in Delhi.
06:23The left-wing governor is himself a very dominating person.
06:27There's speculation that the BJP may bring in a new LG who has a bureaucratic background
06:32so that there's a smoother functioning and, you know, the law and order and urban development
06:39are and basically land are under the central government.
06:44People of Delhi who have voted for the BJP do not understand the fine distinctions and
06:49they will expect the chief minister, the elected chief minister to deliver everywhere
06:53and she has a lot of promise.
06:55She's the second chief minister from the ABBP background to become the chief minister of
07:01Delhi.
07:02Mr. Khurana was the first and now she's the second and she's also the second person who
07:07has come in as the chief minister who also had a stint in student politics.
07:11There are a lot of expectations from her and, you know, and she has no other option but
07:17to deliver and to, you know, ensure that her party, you know, this time succeeds.
07:22There are no excuses which will be taken because they are going to be in power at this, they
07:27are in power in centre, they are in power in all the adjoining states and also they
07:32will be in power in the municipal corporation very soon.
07:35So let's wish her all the best and hope that she's able to carry her tasks.
07:39You know, you are right because it does seem that the Aam Aadmi Party is not very keen
07:42on taking on the BJP or putting out an aggressive fight when it comes down to the MCD election
07:47so they could very well be a triple engine.
07:49Many in the Aam Aadmi Party actually feel that the MCD was actually the panauti which
07:53did them in.
07:54But Siddharth Mishra and Ashutosh, getting you both into this conversation, Siddharth
07:58Mishra, you know, many would suggest the choice of Rekha Gupta was a surprise, you know, she's
08:03low profile, low key but she's somebody who knows Delhi politics very well.
08:07She might have been low profile.
08:10Also fair amount of controversy over the last 24 hours where you have had the opposition
08:15Aam Aadmi Party or even the Congress pull out old tweets, some of them unsavory of Rekha
08:21Gupta and a video where as a Parshad she's seen, you know, vandalizing the municipal
08:27house in Delhi.
08:28So she knows Delhi politics.
08:30She knows how the Delhi BJP state unit works.
08:34Rekha Gupta, you know, is an experienced politician both in the matters of electioneering and in
08:43the student politics.
08:45She has been the president.
08:46She has been the secretary and her grooming has been as a very, very aggressive student
08:51leader and in the, what you call, MCD also where, you know, MCD, those who have covered
08:59MCD house in person, we know that such occurrences are not really surprising in the MCD houses.
09:06Such things do happen in MCD houses, nothing much surprising about it, what is being pulled
09:10out and showed about her.
09:13Such things do happen in MCD and, you know, but there are no, the point which I'm trying
09:20to make here is that those who were propping up the names and everything, one thing they
09:25did not realize that, you know, yesterday also this thing came up for discussion that
09:30she doesn't have a, or nobody in the cabinet has a ministerial experience.
09:35The reason for it is that for 27 years, BJP was not in power in this state.
09:40And so, therefore, the question of anybody coming in with a ministerial experience would
09:44have to be somebody who has joined BJP, either from the Congress party or for the Aam Aadu
09:49party.
09:50Say, Arvind Singh Lovely or Rajkumar Chauhan or, what you call, or Kailash Gyalot.
09:59But in that situation, I think BJP gave a very, very clear message that your loyalty
10:04test has to be longer before you are given any ministerial assignment.
10:08Lovely has been a good minister under Shehla Ji, performed well.
10:12Rajkumar Chauhan was thought, because since BJP had a, did not have too many, you know,
10:18most of their important Dalit leaders have lost the elections.
10:22So one thought Rajkumar Chauhan with the long experience under Shehla Ji as a minister in
10:27BJP as a department, could have made it on the Dalit quota.
10:31But here again, they stuck to the line and BJP decided to take somebody who has been,
10:37whose family has been a Sun loyalist and a BJP loyalist rather than taking Rajkumar Chauhan.
10:42So one thing was very, very clear that nobody who has joined the party recently would be
10:46given a ministerial position and that has been, and that has been shown.
10:51As far as, you know, Kapil Mishra's case is there, he also comes from a Sun background.
10:57His mother was the mayor of Delhi under the BJP.
11:00He parted ways with BJP on precisely on the seat of Karawal Nagar from where he has won
11:07now this time, this time and walked over to Aam Aadmi Party from where he won as a MLA.
11:12Did not stay in Aam Aadmi Party for very long, resigned as a minister and went back to BJP
11:16and, you know, did enough of street, street actions to regain the confidence of the Sun
11:22and the BJP.
11:24So the most important point here was that BJP was very, very clear that people have
11:31to have a long term of loyalty towards the party.
11:36And one of the best examples of that loyalty quotient is Ashish Sood, who, you know, who
11:44actually has had his, who was a Delhi University Student Union president way back in 88, 89.
11:52He has had his opportunity now.
11:55That is good.
11:56So, and as he had mentioned, this 27 years that BJP was out of power, you know, and some
12:01of the older leaders did not, did not.
12:05So you know, the ultimate message in the seven member cabinet of Delhi is loyalty and also
12:11somewhere down the line, awarding and rewarding those who have risen from the ranks, especially
12:16from ABVP, that if you have, you know, been a part of the system where you've organized
12:20all these gala functions, one day you could very well be, you know, the person on which
12:26this gala is going to be organized around.
12:29So you know, that's what at least Siddharth Mishra says.
12:32But you know, what we'll do is as I bring in Ashutosh, we'll play out that video, which
12:35the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party circulating which Siddharth Mishra was talking of, that
12:39in the MCD house, these visuals are very, very common.
12:42And there you have Rekha Gupta, an old video which has got viral, actually not very old.
12:48This was at the mayor election, Rekha Gupta is a three time councillor, when it comes
12:52down from the MCD from the seat of Preetampura, ward of Preetampura.
12:56And you can see, you know, indulging in a bit of vandalism, something which the Aam
13:02Aadmi Party and the Congress has picked up.
13:04So you know, Ashutosh, the seven member band along with of course, which Siddharth Mishra
13:10says the underlining messaging, loyalty to the party, loyalty to the organization is
13:16also, you know, it's interesting, because it's not devoid of controversy.
13:20You have somebody like a Kapil Mishra, you have in all probability, now a Parvesh Verma
13:25who could very well be the deputy chief minister.
13:29Five of the seven have criminal cases against them.
13:31You're on mute, sir.
13:33See Preeti, I think I was expecting a more cosmopolitan cabinet and the more cosmopolitan
13:41chief minister.
13:43On that ground, I was a little disappointed.
13:46But I was reassured further that BJP has decided to consolidate their Hindutva vote, point
13:55number one.
13:56They have decided to award or reward the upper caste, which has very vehemently supports
14:02BJP across the country.
14:06In a state like UP, it supports almost more than 80% of upper caste supports BJP.
14:11So I'm not surprised in that sense.
14:14Look at the choice of Rekha Gupta.
14:18Rekha Gupta is the sixth upper caste chief minister of BJP.
14:24Bajanlal Sharma, Himanta Vishwas Sharma, Devin Fadnais, and then...
14:30Ashutosh, will you allow me a counter?
14:33Rekha Gupta also represents the Baniya community all through the Delhi elections at 32 to 38%
14:39vote share, which has always stayed put.
14:40Of course, the BJP is up the game in this election.
14:43Most of that also comes in from the Baniya community in Delhi, isn't it?
14:48That's what I'm trying to tell you, that BJP has tried to reward and award their own social
14:54groups, which has been extremely, extremely supportive of the BJP.
14:58That's my point.
15:00So if you look at the cabinet also, the Kapil Mishra and Rekha Gupta and then Pravesh Verma,
15:07all three, Rekha Gupta from the student days, had been an ABBP, and those who know her,
15:13know very well that she's very, very ideologically aligned with RSS, a very ideologically aligned
15:18person.
15:19The point number one, Kapil Mishra, everybody knows.
15:22He's a rebel louser in that sense, very closely aligned with the ideology and wants to project
15:27himself as a Hindutva leader.
15:28Pravesh Verma's statements during the Shaheen Bagh, everybody knows.
15:32So the choice of controversial Kapil Mishra, Pravesh Verma, and Rekha Gupta itself speaks
15:40of the fact that the BJP is not going to change, since ideology is giving them all kinds of
15:46premiere, helping them win elections after elections.
15:49So let's invest on that.
15:51Let the media talk about, let the media show those videos, who cares?
15:55After some time, everybody will talk good things about Rekha Gupta, how wonderful she
16:00is.
16:01She's such a low profile person, she's a part of the ideology, everything is all right.
16:04But the issue is, when Kapil Mishra is there, Pravesh Verma is there, Rekha Gupta as a helm
16:09of affair means, BJP wants to avoid and wants to make it very clear to the light and across
16:16the country that Hindutva, Hindutva and Hindutva, nothing else.
16:20All right.
16:21Okay.
16:22Neerja Choudhury, once again, for someone who's reported extensively and studied Delhi
16:25politics, what do you make of the new cabinet, Neerja?
16:29You know, I think more than the cabinet, Rekha Gupta is a newcomer, newbie, I would
16:35say, compared to other leaders in Delhi who are much more senior to her.
16:39And this is going to be one of her challenges.
16:41One of her main challenges will be given their seniority, she will be called to take them
16:46along as a team.
16:48Because they were all eyeing a CM ship at one stage or another, privately, they were
16:52all hoping for the top position.
16:55But you know, why is Rekha Gupta being chosen?
16:59Number one, she's a woman.
17:00The BJP recognizes that women are emerging as a very powerful constituency.
17:06And even the RSS is recognizing that.
17:09Number two, she belongs to the Vaish caste, the caste to which Arvind Kejriwal belonged.
17:13And he'd made inroads, not only in Delhi, for the religions, but all over the country,
17:18they were looking at him with new eyes and different eyes.
17:21And the BJP would like to create a situation now that the Aam Aadmi does not, party does
17:28not raise its head again.
17:30So you know, that calculation is also that.
17:33And number three, which is the most important factor, that the RSS has had its way in the
17:39elevation of Rekha Gupta.
17:41And you know, the RSS is back on the table in the decision making processes of the BJP,
17:48which had weakened, this link had weakened.
17:51And we saw the results in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
17:55Subsequently, things were ironed out between them.
17:58And we saw what happened in Haryana, in Maharashtra, Maharashtra also they had a role in the projection
18:05of Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister.
18:07And also in Delhi with these drawing room, thousands of drawing room meeting and the
18:12Kare Katta coming out full force to ensure the victory of the BJP.
18:17So they have also had a, because Rekha Gupta has been aligned, as many of the others said,
18:23with the RSS from the very beginning, in those days.
18:27Nija Chaudhary, allow me, you know, a question before I go back to Pankaj Vohra.
18:33There seems to be a sense that the BJP Delhi unit has always been very divided, lots of
18:38infighting.
18:39You also touched on that, right, you know, in the beginning, where you said some senior
18:42leaders of the BJP would have coveted the same title which Rekha Gupta holds, and it
18:46might be difficult.
18:47But do you see all that quell now?
18:49This is a different, seemingly, BJP unit this time.
18:52Do you think the workings of this, you know, BJP unit will be different this time around?
18:57Well, you know, what she has going for her, Rekha Gupta, is the complete support of the
19:03high command of the BJP, the centre.
19:05The centre will back her to the hilt.
19:07Therefore, she will not have the kind of problems that Arvind Kejriwal or Atishi had with the
19:11lieutenant governor.
19:12You know, it'll be interesting to see whether the lieutenant governor gets removed now that,
19:17you know, and he does other things now that he's not going to be facing the challenges
19:21that he did with the Aam Aadmi Party.
19:25And she will have the backing, complete backing of the RSS.
19:28So even though there are senior leaders, I don't think anybody will at least in the beginning
19:33speak up.
19:34You know, in political parties, there are tugs and tussles and pressures and counter
19:40pressure which you have, which can make life difficult, you know, under the surface.
19:45So those kind of things she will have to contend with, as I said, taking everybody along and
19:51making a mark on the big ticket issues.
19:54This time, Delhi has set the trend for the country.
19:57You know, we want delivery on clean air to breathe.
20:00We want delivery on clean water to drink for our children.
20:04And that is something, you know, if it's only sloganeering, it's not going to be good enough.
20:09She will have to come up with an action plan.
20:11Let me take that train of thought further, Pankaj Vora, the big challenges right now
20:16that are there in front of the New Delhi cabinet, because there's a lot that the BJP has promised
20:20From the Yamuna, they've already given, you know, Delhi a deadline, three years, and Yamuna
20:25will be clean.
20:26We've had many deadlines in the past made by many leaders which have, you know, clearly
20:30fallen by the wayside.
20:32Now, not just the Yamuna, deliverance on what was the sankalpatra, a promise that the prime
20:37minister made in Delhi saying by the 8th of March, 2500 would be delivered to the women
20:41of Delhi.
20:42Lots of promises there that needs to be delivered immediately.
20:46And lastly, what do you make, Pankaj Vora?
20:49Will, at least where the commentary coming in from the new cabinet seems to suggest that
20:55they will go after the Aam Aadmi Party on what they call allegations of corruption?
21:04Well, I don't know.
21:05I mean, you know, hounding a government which has been in power and, you know, going after
21:11them should be the last priority.
21:13Right now, the top priority should be how to set things right.
21:16You know, if the Yamuna has to be cleaned, then they should have a, you know, proper
21:20plan which works to the last letter and, you know, if they have given three years deadline,
21:27then it should be cleaned.
21:28You know, Mr. Modi has always wanted Delhi to be a not only a smart city, but one of
21:34the best capitals of the world.
21:36So, you know, his vision, if there is, has to be implemented, then all these people who
21:41have been elected this time have to come down on the ground and deliver.
21:46And, you know, there are multiple challenges which Rekha Gupta faces.
21:50You know, she is from the Vaish community, which, you know, never got too many chances
21:55when the BJP had been in power in the past.
21:58You know, it was a Punjabi domination in Delhi.
22:01It used to be Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Madanlal Khurana, Kedarnath Sahni.
22:05They were Vaish leaders, such as Kamarlal Gupta, who never got that kind of an opportunity.
22:10Vijay Goel was elected, but he was never made the chief ministerial candidate.
22:14Dr. Harsh Vardhan came closest to being the chief minister in 2013, could not become.
22:20And then, you know, though there were mayors like Lala Hansraj Gupta, who was mayor of
22:25Delhi, a very respected man, very high up in the RSS, but his elevation was not because
22:31of his, you know, being a Vaish, but because of his hierarchy in the RSS.
22:37Now, when you examine the present government, there are two things, you know, Rekha Gupta
22:41has worked as a councillor, as you yourself mentioned, on three occasions earlier.
22:47So she would know a lot of things which happen.
22:49You know, the Delhi government has a very minimal role, the maximum role which comes
22:54in the life of a common citizen is of BNC, so she would know how to address.
22:59And she should, and the BJP central leadership also has to see what will be the role of people
23:04who have been left out.
23:05You know, Vijendra Gupta, Om Prakash Sharma, Mohan Singh Besht, they had all won when BJP
23:12was a problem, and when Aam Aadmi Party was ruling the roost.
23:16So all of that will be, you know, I'm just running a little short on time, Mr. Vora,
23:21so all of that would be a problem.
23:23Siddharth Mishra, to bring you in, what would be the top challenges for, you know, the newly
23:28minted chief minister?
23:30And alongside, would you think when data politics will also be big?
23:34Because we are, you know, with all promises of deliverance, we also hear that now the
23:40Aam Aadmi Party will have to pay.
23:43You see, one of the biggest damages which Arvind Kejriwal did, that he converted the
23:47Delhi bureaucracy from being one of the most efficient bureaucracy in this country to low
23:52bureaucracy.
23:53There are hardly any bureaucrats who want to be, wanted to be part of Delhi government.
23:59And all of them, you know, there was, in earlier time, there was to be, you know, kind
24:03of thinking resistance to getting posted to Arunachal, Mizoram, and such places.
24:09And this time around, these last 10 years, there was a rush to get out of Delhi.
24:13First challenge before Rekha Gupta would be to restore confidence of the bureaucracy,
24:18because you can only make a government function efficiently if the bureaucracy, if you have
24:23the confidence of the bureaucracy, because the work has to be done through bureaucrat.
24:27And that was one of the biggest achievements of Sheela Dixit, that whatever she achieved
24:32in matters of development of Delhi, it was through a very, very efficient bureaucracy,
24:36the chief secretaries, the PWD secretary, and such people along, you know.
24:41Number one.
24:42Number two, coming to, you know, Vendetta, I really, I don't know why people would call
24:46it Vendetta, because tomorrow, whenever the assembly meets, the first session, it has
24:51been said that for last five years, which the Aam Aadmi Party had kept the CAG papers
24:57under the wraps.
24:58Right.
24:59And it has not allowed it to be tabled in the house.
25:01That is a legislative divide.
25:02We talk about constitution, constitution.
25:03It is a constitutional obligation that those papers should have been placed before the
25:08house.
25:09And if those papers are placed before the house, and if those papers indicate that there
25:13has been large, large amounts of corruption.
25:15So action would be taken.
25:16So why shouldn't they be?
25:17Why shouldn't they be administrated?
25:18You know, when the bureaucracy is concerned, Siddharth Mishra, many would suggest it was
25:24better to leave Delhi because you were caught between the tussle of the LG and the Delhi
25:28government.
25:29So it's really not the Aam Aadmi Party at fault, but it's both sides there.
25:32You were caught in the middle of that and you really don't blame the bureaucracy for
25:35finding themselves in a spot that they were.
25:37I want to bring in Ashutosh into this conversation.
25:40Ashutosh, you know, there's also a sense, along with the big challenges, and we've laid
25:45them out very clearly, the promises made in the Sankalp Patra, that needs to be delivered.
25:49Already a timeline given by the Prime Minister himself on the Yamuna of being the top priority
25:53a three year time limit for the Yamuna to be clean.
25:57But you know, when you come down of Vendetta politics, which Siddharth Mishra says, why
26:01use the word Vendetta politics?
26:03It's something that, or you know, to use a term, the chickens would have come home to
26:07roost for the Aam Aadmi Party.
26:09See, Preeti, I think this bureaucracy thing is unnecessarily hyped up for the simple reason
26:16because everybody knows that Delhi, the bureaucracy, the government will not be run from the three
26:21ministers often, but it will be run from somewhere else.
26:24Let's be very clear on that issue.
26:25So bureaucrats, and in the last 10 years, sir, I didn't speak, sir, in the last 10 years,
26:32the bureaucrats also played a lot of politics in Delhi because they knew that Aam Aadmi
26:36Party can do nothing.
26:38And so they knew that who is going to write the ACR.
26:41So they are playing politics too.
26:43I'm not telling them they are the very honest one in that sense.
26:47And they created a lot of the executive, the execution paralysis in Delhi also.
26:52They have to be blamed.
26:54About the Vendetta politics, see, again, that will not be decided by the Rekha Gupta and
26:59it will be decided by the Home Ministry and the Prime Minister's office.
27:02And they will take it to the logical conclusion, I have no doubt on that issue, because the
27:05Prime Minister in his speech itself has said, first time I heard any Prime Minister speaking
27:11something like this.
27:12And that was very clear that in which direction the Aam Aadmi Party has to be taken and what
27:17the future of the country is going to be.
27:18So you're saying it's going to be a shadow government and there will be, we will see
27:22action against the Aam Aadmi Party and what the BJP has alleged corruption charges.
27:26All right.
27:27Okay.
27:28You know, I know you want to come in, Siddharth, but I don't have the time.
27:31I want to bring in Neerja Chaudhary for a quick comment.
27:35Neerja, top challenges before this government now?
27:40I think very simply water and air.
27:43Of course, there are the freebies to continue.
27:45All that will happen, you know, safe city, all that, all that is there.
27:50But if I was to say Delhi can really, you know, and I suspect that the Prime Minister,
27:56the Home Minister and the BJP will want to make Delhi a showpiece for the rest of India.
28:02And this is an opportunity they've got after 27 years.
28:06And I think the critical thing is going to be water and air.
28:09Nothing can be more basic than that.
28:12And they'll have to go beyond promises, as I say, slogans, or even beautifying, you know,
28:18embankment on the river Yamuna.
28:20That's not good enough.
28:21Right.
28:22The water, the citizens of Delhi.
28:25Right.
28:26All right.
28:27You know, I'm sorry I'm going to cut you short, but that's all the time that we have for right
28:29now.
28:30And I would reckon for all the Delhi citizens who are watching, you know, right now would
28:35agree with the last comment, you know, Vendetta politics, you know, Vendetta politics, everything
28:39is like, give us clean air, give us good water.