In a historic political shift, Bharatiya Janata Party's debutant MLA 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 27 years. Along with Gupta, Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra, Ravinder Indraj Singh, Kapil Mishra and Pankaj Singh were also administered the oath of office by Lt Governor VK Saxena.
The ceremony at the historic Ramlila Ground was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the top BJP brass and NDA chief ministers. Gupta is Delhi’s fourth woman chief minister. The 50-year-old MLA from Shalimar Bagh is also the only woman in the NDA team of chief ministers.
With the new government in place, attention has now turned to the role of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly. The Aam Aadmi Party is yet to announce its LoP after facing a setback in the recently concluded Delhi assembly elections. As per sources, several names are doing the rounds for the role of LoP. Let's look into a few names who can assume the role of LoP in the Delhi Assembly.
List of contenders for LoP in Delhi Assembly
- Atishi: The former Chief Minister is being considered as the frontrunner for the post. She represents Kalkaji constituency, where she won for the second consecutive time.
- Gopal Rai: The senior AAP leader was in Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet since 2025. He represents Babarpur constituency, where he won for the third consecutive time.
- Jarnail Singh: He is a senior politician in the Aam Aadmi Party. He represents Tilaknagar constituency, where he won for the fourth consecutive time.
- Sanjeev Jha: The senior AAP leader is also seen as one of the contenders. He represents Burari constituency, where he won for the fourth consecutive time.
Delhi Assembly Election Results 2025
It should be mentioned here that the BJP won 48 seats in the recently concluded Delhi assembly polls. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party was reduced to just 22 seats. Several prominent leaders of AAP including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, cabinet ministers Saurabh Bhardwaj, Satyendar Jain, and Somnath Bharti lost polls. The Congress, which was hoping for its revival in the national captial, again failed to win any seat. The party, which ruled Delhi for 15 years from 1998, registered a hat-trick zero tally in assembly polls.
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