BJP National Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda with Delhi party President Virendra Sachdeva and other party leaders as newly sworn-in Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta assumes charge, at the state secretariat in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Hours after swearing-in, the Rekha Gupta-led BJP government got into action mode on Thursday with the first Cabinet meeting deciding to implement the Centre’s Ayushman Yojana in the capital along with a Rs five lakh health insurance scheme and table 14 CAG reports that were critical of the previous AAP dispensation.
The decisions came at a late evening Cabinet meeting after a grand swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan, which saw the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Gupta and her six Cabinet colleagues performed 'Yamuna Aarti' at Vasudev Ghat.
Along with Gupta, six ministers – Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra and Pankaj Singh – were also sworn-in by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at the function, which also saw the attendance of top BJP and NDA brass, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and N Chandrababu Naidu.
Gupta, a first-time MLA who is heading a BJP government in Delhi after a gap of 27 years, also allocated portfolios while keeping Finance, Vigilance and Services among others and allocating Water, Public Department Works (PWD) and Flood Control to Verma.
Sood has been allocated Home, Urban Development and Education, while Sirsa has been allocated Industries, Environment and Food and Civil Supplies. Ravinder Singh will be Social Justice Minister, while Mishra will handle Law and Labour and Pankaj Singh has been assigned Health, Transport and Information Technology.
After the first Cabinet meeting, Gupta told reporters that the BJP would fulfil all the commitments that they have made to the people. She said in the first meeting two decisions on Ayushman Yojana and tabling of 14 CAG reports have been taken.
Asked about former Chief Minister Atishi’s demand that the Rs 2,500 monthly allowance should be cleared in the first Cabinet, Gupta shot back, “This is our government, the agenda will be ours. She doesn't need to tell us everything, she has done what she has to while being in power.”
Before the swearing-in, she said the BJP government would fulfill its promise of providing Rs 2,500 monthly assistance to women and the first installment of the monthly support would be credited to eligible women's accounts by March 8.
Earlier, Modi said Gupta has risen from the grassroots and expressed confidence that she will work for the city's development with full vigour. "She has risen from the grassroots, being active in campus politics, state organisation, municipal administration and now MLA as well as Chief Minister," he said.
As per security guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Gupta was accorded 'Z' category security of the Delhi Police.
Verma, a contender for the top post who took oath after Gupta, said he is a very disciplined worker of the party and will fulfill the responsibility entrusted to him. "Today is a very important day. We will fulfill our promise which we have made about 'Viksit Delhi'."