BJP's 'Delhi dream' takes shape at Ramlila Maidan

With drums beating since morning and loudspeakers belting out patriotic songs, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) 27-year-long wait to form a government in Delhi for a second time ended on Thursday, when first-time legislator Rekha Gupta took oath as chief minister at Ramlila Ground.

- ANUSHKA BHARDWAJ

An estimated 50,000 people attended the event. The audience included a good number of women, all confident that a woman-led Delhi government would soon keep the party's election promise of depositing a monthly allowance of ₹2,500 in women's bank accounts.

A six-member council of ministers, whose composition showed the BJP's efforts to give representation to Delhi's electorally important communities – the Jats, Hindu Punjabis and Sikhs, Dalits, and Poorvanchalis – also took oath.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other Union ministers. Chief ministers – N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra, Mohan Yadav of Madhya Pradesh, and Bhajanlal Sharma of Rajasthan – attended the event, as did several of the National Democratic Alliance's deputy chief ministers.