The cabinet portfolios for ministers in the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government were announced on Thursday evening, just hours after the elected MLAs were sworn in at the historic Ramlila Maidan.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has retained key departments, including general administration, service, finance, revenue, women and child development, land and building, information and public relations, vigilance, and planning. Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma has been assigned the responsibility for PWD, legislative affairs, water, irrigation and flood control, as well as Gurdwara elections.
The portfolios
- Rekha Gupta (chief minister) – Finance, Planning, GAD, WCD, Services, Revenue, Land & Building, I&PR, Vigilance, AR. Any other department not allocated to other ministers.
- Parvesh Verma – PWD, Legislative Affairs, I&FC, Water, Gurudwara Elections
- Ashish Sood- Home, Power, UD, Education, Higher Education, Training & Technical Education
- Manjinder Singh Sirsa- Food & Supplies, Forest & Environment, Industries
- Ravinder Singh- Social Welfare, SC & ST Welfare, Cooperative, Elections
- Kapil Mishra- Law & Justice, Labour Department, Employment Department, Development, Art & Culture, Language Department, Tourism Department
- Pankaj Kumar Singh- Health and Family Welfare, Transport, Information Technology.
Rekha Gupta Takes Oath
Earlier in the day, Rekha Gupta, a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi by Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena during a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan. Her council of ministers also took the oath alongside her.
Gupta’s Cabinet includes six MLAs: Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, who defeated former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Singh. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top BJP leaders, including Union Ministers Amit Shah, J.P. Nadda, and Rajnath Singh, as well as chief ministers and deputy chief ministers from several NDA-ruled states.
Later, Gupta arrived at the Delhi Secretariat to formally assume office as Chief Minister, accompanied by senior party leaders such as state BJP in-charge Baijayant Panda and state president Virendra Sachdeva. She also presided over her first cabinet meeting.
Rekha Gupta is the fourth woman to hold the position of Delhi Chief Minister, following her party’s Sushma Swaraj, the Congress’ Sheila Dikshit, and AAP’s Atishi.
Gupta has an extensive background in politics. She previously served as president and general secretary of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), as well as general secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha in Delhi and a member of the party’s national executive committee. Her political journey began in 1992 with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Daulat Ram College, Delhi University. In 1996-97, she became the president of DUSU, where she actively championed student-related issues.
