Skip to main content

India’s ruling BJP takes control of New Delhi after 27 years as chief minister sworn in

A member of India’s ruling Hindu-nationalist party was sworn in on Thursday as chief minister of New Delhi after an election landslide handed it control of the capital for the first time in decades.

Rekha Gupta, 50, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the fourth woman to serve as chief minister of the sprawling megacity of more than 30 million people.

The BJP is in government nationally but has not controlled the local legislature in Delhi since 1998, so its sweeping victory in seizing more than two-thirds of seats in the February 5 polls was both symbolic and strategically important.

Gupta, who has a law degree and began her career in student politics in the city, was selected for the post by party members late on Wednesday. “I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office,” Gupta said while taking the oath of office in front of a crowd of cheering supporters.

Modi, who was present at the ceremony, said in a post on X that Gupta had “risen from the grassroots” to become the chief minister. “I am confident she will work for Delhi’s development with full vigour,” he added.

The elections ousted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whose leader Arvind Kejriwal had governed Delhi for much of the past decade and was a prominent critic of Modi.

Kejriwal rode to power as an anti-corruption crusader but spent several months behind bars last year over accusations his party took kickbacks in exchange for liquor licences.

He has denied wrongdoing and characterised the charges as a political witch hunt by Modi’s government.

The win is a boost for the BJP and 74-year-old Modi, who won a third term in office after elections last year but with a reduced vote that forced him to rely on coalition partners to govern.

Gupta faces major challenges including Delhi’s monumental air pollution crisis, which smothers the city in hazardous fumes for months during the winter.

New Delhi is regularly ranked the worst capital in the world for choking smog, which often surges as much as 60 times the World Health Organisation’s recommended daily maximum.

Years of piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths annually and particularly affecting the health of children and the elderly.

None of the key parties made tackling the health crisis a focal point of their campaigns.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/L2mz1PF
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more

Global reaction to potential Israel-Hezbollah ‘spiral of violence’

World leaders on Tuesday sounded the alarm over fears of a wider conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in two decades in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds. After nearly a year of cross-border fire since the Gaza offensive erupted, Israeli bombardment on Monday killed 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, according to the country’s health ministry. The toll — the highest since Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went to war in mid-2006 — raised fears of an all-out conflict engulfing the Middle East. ‘Tens of thousands’ flee: UN UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely alarmed by the escalating situation… and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow,” United Nations refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said in Geneva. ‘Spiral of violence’: US Israel’s clo...
Post a Comment
Read more