Exhibiting what BJP insiders said was an emphasis on organisational loyalty over any other factor, two first-time legislators who have been with the party since the beginning were chosen for as many berths in the Delhi Cabinet compared to two former Congress ministers and an AAP minister.
The Sangh’s choice is writ large on both the choices — Ravinder Indraj Singh and Pankaj Kumar Singh, who represent the reserved Bawana Assembly and Vikaspuri, respectively.
Former AAP minister Kailash Gahlot, who switched to the BJP months before the Assembly polls, is now the Bijwasan MLA. Gandhi Nagar MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely and Mangolpuri MLA Rajkumar Chauhan, who were part of successive Congress government cabinets with Sheila Dikshit at the helm, have been left out in the cold, at least for the time being.
Gahlot was the most senior minister in the AAP government who quit and joined BJP. Sources said he was being considered to head a government board or authority. Apart from cabinet positions, key posts in autonomous bodies and boards, such as the Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson, and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, are yet to be filled.
Chauhan is a former four-time MLA who served on the Dikshit-led Delhi cabinet three times.
In 1998, Lovely became the youngest Delhi MLA and five years later, at the age of 30, became the youngest minister in the Dikshit government. Considered the then Chief Minister’s confidant, he received key portfolios such as Education, Transport and Urban Development during her three tenures. It was during his tenure that Delhi’s infamous Blueline buses were replaced with the green, red, and orange low-floor buses.
Lovely was the education minister when Delhi became the first to implement 25% reservation for children from the Economically Weaker Section in private schools. He was the Urban Development Minister when the approval to regularise unauthorised colonies was first made in 2012-13. The plan, however, took a long time to get the Centre’s approval and implemented on the ground, which happened in 2018-19 when the BJP was in power at the Centre.
Though targeted by the AAP over alleged corruption, Lovely played a part in giving “outside support” to the AAP in 2013, enabling it to form a government that lasted for 49 days. He was heading the Delhi Congress when the AAP handed the party a crushing defeat in the 2015 Assembly polls. Subsequently, Lovely resigned as DPCC president for the first time and joined the BJP. Within months, he returned to the Congress fold but left for the BJP again before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
The other leaders from the Congress to have joined the BJP between 2022 and before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections include Tarvinder Singh Marwah, who defeated the AAP’s Manish Sisodia in Jangpura, Neeraj Basoya who got elected from Kasturba Nagar and Naseeb Singh who did not get a ticket this time.
A senior political leader, who joined the BJP recently, said, “There is no issue like that (with regard to exclusion from the seven-member cabinet)… We were neither expecting any cabinet berth nor was it communicated to us (that we would get one). We had joined the BJP because we were in agreement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the country, not for personal benefit.”
BJP sources said senior leaders — both who had been with the party since the beginning as well as those who had joined it later — were likely to be accommodated in positions such as Parliamentary Secretaries, Boards and autonomous institutions under the Delhi government.
Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 16 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism.
Expertise
High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including:
The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls.
National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus.
Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities.
National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements.
Academic Credentials:
Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions.
Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More
