NEW DELHI: Ending 27 years of politics of opposition, the BJP has formed its government in the national capital with Rekha Gupta as Chief Minister. The selection of Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Kapil Mishra, Manjinder Sirsa, Ravinder Indraj Singh and Pankaj Kumar Singh as ministers reflects the party’s attempt at balancing caste equations in Delhi.
Gupta is from the Baniya community and influences dozens of seats in the city. Verma comes from the Jat community, which has nearly 6 percent of voters. Twice, MLA Sirsa is a prominent Punjabi face. If Baniya and Punjabi votes are clubbed, they will have a majority in nearly 30 assembly seats. Mishra, the Brahmin, is an upper caste with a strong base among Purvanchali voters.
They command a majority on nearly 14 seats and play the kingmaker in 27 others. Pankaj Kumar Singh is a Rajput, another upper caste. He, too, has a Purvanchali connection---he earned his professional degree from Bihar and was elected from the Vikaspuri area. Ashish Sood is a Khatri (Punjabi) upper caste, highly popular among his community voters because he is an organisational worker of the BJP.
Ravinder Indraj Singh is a prominent Dalit leader, who won from the Bawana seat this time, having shifted from Narela. Regarding Delhi’s parliamentary constituencies, Verma and Sirsa assembly segments are part of the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. Mishra is from the North East Delhi seat, Sood and Pankaj Singh are from the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat, and Ravinder Indraj is from North West Delhi.
“The BJP central leadership chose a team similar to the ‘Saptarshis’ (seven seers of ancient India or seven stars). Representation of all sections of society was kept in mind. Such a combination will work for the capital’s development,” said a senior leader at the Ramlila ground during their oath-taking function.