‘Phulera Panchayat’: AAP slams Delhi CM over allowing husband to sit in govt meetings
When The Indian Express visited one of Gupta’s jansunwais, Manish Gupta was seen actively assisting in the proceedings, including managing the crowd
3 min read
AAP’s Delhi in-charge Saurabh Bharadwaj shared photos sourced from the Chief Minister’s Instagram handle, which showed the CM's husband, Manish Gupta-a Delhi-based businessman-seated next to her (X/@Saurabh_MLAgk)The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over allowing her husband to participate in official government meetings, calling the move “unconstitutional” and an “example of nepotism”.
In a post on X, AAP’s Delhi in-charge Saurabh Bharadwaj shared photos sourced from the Chief Minister’s Instagram handle, which showed the CM’s husband, Manish Gupta-a Delhi-based businessman-seated next to her during an official review meeting with bureaucrats. The same images were also shared on Gupta’s twitter account.
“Delhi government has turned into Phulera Panchayat,” Bharadwaj wrote, drawing a parallel to the fictional village of ‘Phulera’ in the web series Panchayat in which the husband of a woman sarpanch informally exercises authority. “Just like the husband of the female head used to work as the head in Phulera Panchayat, today in Delhi the husband of the CM is sitting in official meetings… This is completely unconstitutional. Democracy and the constitutional system are being made fun of in the country’s capital,” he alleged.
Bharadwaj further questioned the BJP, which he said had long criticised the Congress for promoting dynastic politics. “If this is not nepotism then what is it? Does the CM of the world’s largest party not have any worker left on whom she can trust? Why is her husband being made part of the government administrative system in this way?” he wrote.
The photos in question were from a review meeting chaired by CM Gupta on Saturday at Jan Seva Sadan in Shalimar Bagh constituency. “Today, the Chief Minister reviewed the ongoing development works in the Shalimar Bagh Assembly constituency at Jan Seva Sadan. In the meeting, officials were directed to regularly assess the progress of ongoing works and submit detailed status reports within the stipulated time frame,” Gupta wrote in her post.
She added that discussions were held on pending projects and land-use issues, with decisions to set up harvesting points in waterlogging-prone areas, initiate market revitalisation, and remove tilted trees. “Continuous review of public interest works and their timely completion is our topmost priority,” the CM wrote.
Sources said that although Gupta’s husband holds no official party post in the Shalimar Bagh constituency, he had attended the meeting in which apart from officials, the constituency’s BJP party workers were also present. Gupta’s office gave no response to the AAP’s allegations.
When The Indian Express visited one of Gupta’s jansunwais, Manish Gupta was seen actively assisting in the proceedings, including managing the crowd.
Manish Gupta, who works as an agency associate with Kotak Life Insurance, also runs Nikunj Enterprises-an industrial venture that specialises in brass parts.
This is not the first time Gupta’s husband has faced political backlash. In April, his presence at meetings with officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Public Works Department (PWD), and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) had triggered a slugfest, with AAP leader and current Leader of Opposition Atishi alleging that he was “running the Delhi government from behind the scenes.”
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