Delhi's new CM 'far cry' from Sheila Dikshit and Sushma Swaraj, claims TMC's Sagarika Ghose

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose Thursday claimed new Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is a "far cry" from earlier chief ministers Sheila Dikshit and Sushma Swaraj.

In a post on X, Ghose, the deputy leader of TMC in Rajya Sabha, said this is, however, the "new BJP where vicious abuse and vitriol have been normalised".

She also wrote: "Disturbing reports on social media on the new Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's past abusive language and rowdyism. What a far cry from the hard working and gracious Sheila Dixit and the articulate parliamentarian Sushma Swaraj."

Another party MP Saket Gokhale said, "The irony today: Hate monger Kapil Mishra who incited mobs during Delhi 2020 riots will be sworn in as a Minister. Umar Khalid, without any evidence, has spent over 4.5 years in jail without a trial."  He also wrote: "Wish our courts cared about hate speech instead of YouTubers & 'obscenity'," in an apparent reference to the Supreme Court hearing the case of YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia.  Mishra, who was sworn-in as a minister in Delhi on Thursday, is known for his fiery speeches.

He had also courted controversy by giving a speech in Delhi's Jaffarabad against ongoing anti-CAA/NRC protests, a day before riots hit north east Delhi in February 2020.  Former JNU scholar and activist Umar Khalid was booked under anti-terror law UAPA allegedly being the "mastermind" of the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.

BJP's debutant legislator Rekha Gupta was sworn in as Delhi chief minister on Thursday in a grand show of strength that marks the party's return to power in the city after more than 26 years.