CM Rekha takes charge; Kapil, Parvesh among six ministers

First-time lawmaker Rekha Gupta took oath as the ninth chief minister of Delhi in a grand ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday, marking the return of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the national capital for the first time in nearly three decades.

- Alok KN Mishra

Six other legislators took oath as ministers - Jat face Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma (New Delhi) who defeated Arvind Kejriwal, Punjabi face Ashish Sood (Janakpuri), Sikh face Manjinder Singh Sirsa (Rajouri Garden), Dalit face Ravinder Indraj Singh (Bawana), Purvanchali Brahmin face Kapil Mishra (Karawal Nagar), and Purvanchali Thakur face Pankaj Singh (Vikaspuri). The CM and all ministers took oath in Hindi while Sirsa was sworn-in in Punjabi.

Gupta, the legislator from Shalimar Bagh in west Delhi, spent a busy day - first taking oath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a ceremony that doubled as a show of strength for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), then taking charge as CM at the secretariat, then at an evening aarti at the Yamuna ghat, and finally, presiding over the first meeting of the new Delhi cabinet.

"We will continuously work towards the mission of Viksit Delhi, and we will fulfil all the promises that we have made," said Gupta, 50.

The CM chaired the meeting continued on of the first cabinet on Thursday evening at Delhi secretariat. The cabinet considered and approved the implementing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Delhi; and also approved the tabling of 14 CAG reports during the first session of the Delhi assembly which will be convened soon.

"The cabinet passed Ayushman Bharat Yojana which was stopped by the previous government. It will be implemented as earliest after the necessary formalities are done. The Ayushman Bharat Yojana and the scheme for over 70 years elderly have been approved," Gupta said at Delhi secretariat.

In the evening, the list of portfolios showed Gupta keeping some key departments including services, finance, revenue, women and child development, land and building, information and public relations, vigilance and planning for herself.