The new Delhi government will see the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijender Gupta as the Delhi Assembly Speaker, while Mohan Singh Bisht is expected to take on the role of the Deputy Speaker, sources said. BJP MLA Vijender Gupta who won from the Rohini constituency received 70,365 votes in the Delhi Assembly elections, while Mohan Singh Bisht emerged victorious in Muslim-dominated Mustafabad.
"I am thankful to the party for giving me the responsibility of Speaker of Delhi Assembly. I will fulfill my responsibility… I hope we will have healthy discussions in the House," Gupta said before the swearing-in ceremony of the Delhi Cabinet.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years. Gupta, 50, was chosen as Leader of the House in the newly constituted 8th Delhi Assembly, in a meeting of the BJP legislature party on Wednesday.
Besides Gupta, six newly elected MLAs -- Parvesh Verma who defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat, Ashish Sood, Pankaj Singh, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra and Ravinder Indraj -- will take oath as members of the new Council of Ministers, according to a government notification.
The new Council of Ministers headed by Gupta is likely to hold its first meeting at the Delhi Secretariat around 3 pm and could implement the Mahila Samriddhi Yojna, under which eligible women will get a monthly payment of Rs 2,500, and Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, party sources claimed.
The BJP ended a decade-long rule of Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in Delhi, winning 48 of the 70 seats in the Assembly polls held on February 5. The BJP last had power in Delhi way back in 1993-98.