Delhi’s new Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, who took the oath on Thursday, is under fire after the BJP leader’s old social media posts resurfaced, in which she used hateful and derogatory language toward Muslims and Opposition.
In other tweets, she could be seen taking swipes at former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In several of the tweets, Gupta allegedly targeted Muslims and questioned their loyalty to the country.
In a video, she can be heard abusing university students.
The original tweets, which have now been deleted by Gupta, have drawn heavy criticism from Opposition leaders, while many have questioned her leadership.
In another tweet, the new Chief Minister allegedly compared Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to Ravan and Soorpanakha.
“Kejriwal apna janamdin kabhi nahi manata. Unhone apni maa se ghatna ka video manga tha jise wo nahi de saki thi (Kejriwal never celebrates his birthday. He once asked his mother for a video of the incident, which she couldn’t provide),” says a tweet of Rekha Gupta dated October 5, 2016.
In a viral video, she is seen vandalising government property inside the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
Reacting to the viral screenshots of the tweets, the Congress said it was not surprising that “a troll has become the CM of Delhi from the BJP.”
After the screenshots went viral, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said:
“Those who are angry over the old tweets of the new Chief Minister of Delhi, in which world do they live? The existence of the rest of the Chief Ministers, dozens of Union Ministers, and most of the MPs of BJP is hateful thinking and poisonous language. Have you ever thought why government ministers are forced to become trolls? Because this is the easiest step to move ahead. What did you expect from the Chief Minister of a party whose biggest leader utters the word ‘Mujra’ from the stage?”
While supporters of Gupta, 50, a first-time MLA from the BJP, shared the old posts to mock Kejriwal’s defeat in the Delhi election, supporters of the AAP chief highlighted what they described as inappropriate language used by Gupta in attacking her political rival.
Originally from Jind in Haryana, 50-year-old Rekha Gupta has been active in politics since her student years. A law graduate from Meerut, she began her political journey with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and has remained closely associated with the BJP.
Before her appointment as Chief Minister, she served as the Mayor of North Delhi and played a key role in BJP’s women’s wing. Rekha Gupta’s rise to power marks a historic moment for the BJP, as she is currently the only female Chief Minister in the party’s 21 state governments.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose was one of the Opposition leaders who posted about Gupta’s old tweets.
“Disturbing reports on social media on Delhi’s new Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s past abusive language and rowdyism. What a far cry from the hard-working and gracious Sheila Dixit and the articulate parliamentarian Sushma Swaraj. But this is the ‘new’ BJP where vicious abuse and vitriol have been normalised,” Ghose alleged.
