New Delhi: Parvesh Verma, the BJP giant slayer who defeated Arvind Kejriwal in his bastion New Delhi seat, on Friday spoke about not being named as the Delhi chief minister, a post for which he was seen as a strong contender until the party leadership chose first time MLA Rekha Gupta to lead the government.
The BJP’s Delhi government is being sworn in at the Ramlila Maidan with Rekha Gupta and Verma along with six MLAs taking oath as Delhi Cabinet ministers.
When asked about his chief ministerial prospects ahead of the swearing-in, Verma told TV9, “Everyone wished for it but we welcome the decision taken by the party. There is no resentment, we will work for the people with the responsibility bestowed upon us”.
The BJP Delhi legislative party on Thursday night elected Rekha Gupta as its leader, ending days of speculations and suspense about the chief minister.
Interestingly, when Parvesh Verma arrived for the legislative party meeting yesterday, a large crowd of his supporters had gathered outside the party office, but silence lies there on the day of swearing-in. Yesterday, his supporters arrived in an open jeep, but today, there are no such preparations.
Delhi government swearing-in ceremony
The new Delhi government will have six cabinet ministers, including Parvesh Verma. The swearing-in ceremony will begin at noon.
According to a Union Home Ministry notification, President Droupadi Murmu, on the recommendation of Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta, has appointed BJP MLAs Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj, Kapil Mishra, and Pankaj Kumar Singh as ministers in the Delhi government.
The new ministers, along with CM-designate Gupta, will take the oath of office in a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan later in the day, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries.
