New Delhi

On her first day as Delhi Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta participated in the evening aarti on the banks of the Yamuna, alongside her newly inducted cabinet ministers and Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, at the Vasudev Ghat.

Gupta, who was sworn in earlier that day at a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan, was joined by ministers including Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra, Ravinder Indraj Singh, and Pankaj Singh, who were all administered the oath of office by Lt. Governor VK Saxena.

The 50-year-old first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh constituency was elected Delhi’s ninth Chief Minister following a BJP Legislature Party meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top BJP leaders, and NDA Chief Ministers.

On the same day, visuals showed efforts to clean the Yamuna River, with trash skimmers, weed harvesters, and dredge utility vehicles deployed to the river on February 16. The initiative follows the BJP’s historic win in the Delhi Assembly elections, securing 48 out of 70 seats, with cleaning the Yamuna being a key campaign promise.

Yamuna pollution was a central issue during the elections, with the BJP accusing AAP of failing to fulfil its promises. The BJP’s manifesto prioritised the river’s cleanup.

Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal also urged the new government to present the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report and act swiftly to clean the Yamuna. Prime Minister Modi assured that the CAG report would be tabled in the first session of the newly elected Assembly.