Nearly one and a half weeks after winning the Delhi Assembly election on February 8, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced the name of the next Delhi Chief Minister on Wednesday.
Rekha Gupta was chosen as the leader of the Delhi BJP Legislature Party in a meeting held at the state office on 14 Pant Marg.
Hours before the meeting, the BJP high command appointed former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and OP Dhankar as central observers for the election of the BJP Legislature Party leader.
Rekha Gupta will now take the oath as Delhi Chief Minister on February 20 at the famous Ramlila Maidan at 12 PM.
Before the legislative party meeting began today, the newly-elected MLAs were asked to keep phones outside, as per media reports.
Swearing-in-ceremony on February 20
Ramlila Maidan in Delhi is all decked up for the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister and new cabinet of Delhi that is scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 20, after 11 am.
According to reports, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena will administer the oath of office to the CM-designate and the cabinet at 12:35 pm.
Among the prominent guests who are expected to attend the grand event are PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers, and NDA Chief Ministers and Deputy CMs from different states.
According to reports, the BJP, which returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, has extended invitations to gig workers, cab and auto drivers, farmers, as well as slum dwellers.
Before BJP announced the name of the new Delhi Chief Minister, BJP MLA-elect Raj Kumar Bhatia told news agency ANI, “For us, the most important thing is that our govt is forming after 27 years…48 candidates are there for CM post.”
Frontrunners
After the results were announced on February 8, several names were making rounds on social media as the frontrunners for the coveted post. These names included newly-elected MLAs Parvesh Verma, who won against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi seat, Rekha Gupta, Ashish Sood, Kapil Mishra, and others.
