From ABVP to BJP’s mayor pick – Rekha Gupta’s long journey

On Tuesday, the BJP named Gupta, a three-time councillor from Shalimar Bagh, and Kamal Bagadi from Ram Nagar ward for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor respectively. Both filed their nominations at the civic centre.

The mayoral elections are scheduled on January 6, while scrutiny of nominations will be held on Wednesday.

Gupta was born in Haryana’s Jind but grew up in North Delhi. She started her political career with BJP’s student unit, the ABVP, in 1993 and became general secretary and president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) in 1996-1997.

She joined the BJP in 2002 as general secretary of the party’s youth wing and went on to become a member of the national executive and general secretary of the Delhi BJP.

Gupta said that if she wins, her priorities as mayor would be to “speed up work” and “make Delhi clean and green”.

“Delhi is the national capital and people from across the country visit the city. I will work with the councillors to develop the roads, make it garbage-free, dhalao-free, and pollution-free,” she said.

Asked why this was not done when the BJP was in power in the MCD for 15 years, she said, “Several schemes and steps were taken for cleanliness and making the city garbage free… All these were successful and gathered pace in recent years. Installation of more dustbins and 500 compactors has led to reduced visibility of garbage on the roads and landfill sites. Speedy work is required and I will focus on expediting developmental works and making MCD corruption-free.”

Asked if she sees tough competition since the AAP has the majority in the house, Gupta said, “In politics, there is always competition and it is the public who elects you. But here, it is an indirect election and there is no anti-defection law. People elected me for the third consecutive time… If you give MCD and responsibility of the entire Delhi to an inexperienced person, will they run it? Even the councillors would want to see an experienced person as mayor and not an inexperienced, new face. It might not be a cakewalk, but I don’t see a competition here.”

She also targeted the AAP for nominating two candidates for the post of mayor: “This clearly shows they are afraid of me because I am a three-time councillor and have more experience… So, the party itself is confused and divided.”

The BJP has nominated three candidates for the standing committee — former South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) mayor Kamaljeet Sherawat; Independent candidate Gajender Daral from Mundka ward; and Pankaj Luthra from Jhilmil ward.