Delhi’s governance is in crisis as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s husband is seen attending official meetings, inspecting projects, and issuing directions to officers. AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj called it unconstitutional and illegal, warning that this is a deliberate strategy to place an unelected family member at the centre of power. Even the CM has posted reels of her husband exercising authority, signaling to officers and contractors that he runs the administration.
The AAP Delhi unit chief demanded that the BJP clarify: Is CM Rekha Gupta not capable to do her work herself? Does the BJP have no capable OSD or PS to assist her? Under which law can her husband give instructions to government officers on her behalf? He added that the matter will be raised with PM Modi, who often speaks of integrity in politics, asking for his stand on a woman CM allowing her husband to discharge official responsibilities.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader and Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “It started as a joke that Delhi has been turned into a ‘Phulera Panchayat.’ But on the way here, I kept thinking that this is no joke, this is a very serious matter. India is the world’s largest democracy, and its capital Delhi is a cosmopolitan city under the watch of international media. In such a state, a woman has been made Chief Minister, and her husband is seen sitting with her in official meetings with officers.”
Drawing parallels to local bodies, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We have seen this happen in panchayats and local bodies where seats are reserved for women. Often, women were fielded as candidates but did not have the experience to run the office. Their husbands would then step in, telling them to just sit while they managed the work. Officers too began recognising that while the wife would sign, it was the husband who made the decisions. This may happen in a village panchayat or even with a councillor, but how can it happen in the Chief Minister’s office of Delhi, where a businessman husband attends meetings?”
He continued, “The BJP says it was just one meeting where the husband was sitting. This is not about just one meeting. Videos show that her husband is making reels, with music, sending a message to officers and establishing his authority. A clear message is being spread that it is the husband who is in control.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Indian politics has seen instances where designations were misused. Some gave authority to a brother or sister to avoid scrutiny or sting operations. In Delhi too, signals were sent inside the bureaucracy, among businessmen and contractors, about who is actually in control. In some states, we even heard comments that the Chief Minister is honest but his wife handles everything.
“Such examples exist, but here the Chief Minister herself is establishing her husband’s authority through Instagram reels. This is a very serious matter—illegal, unethical and unconstitutional. We will raise it with the Prime Minister, who often speaks of integrity in politics. The country wants to know his stand on a woman Chief Minister allowing her husband to discharge her official responsibilities,” he added.
Targeting BJP’s social media head, he said, “Amit Malviya wrote that the AAP should find something more substantive to target Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, who was holding a review meeting of a constituency ‘managed by her husband.’ Which law allows this? Is this cattle management at home where one tends to goats and another to buffaloes? This is not management, this is the responsibility of an elected representative.”
The senior AAP leader said that the BJP social media head even compared it to Sheila Dikshit’s sister Rama Dhawan managing her constituency. He concluded by saying stop targeting Rekha Gupta because she is a woman doing a good job. “I ask Amit Malviya to show the condition of roads where he lives in Delhi during rains—then we will know what work Rekha Gupta is doing,” he asserted.
On the reference to Rama Dhawan, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “I thank him for this example. My fear is precisely this—that Rekha Gupta’s husband may start functioning the same way as Rama Dhawan did. If BJP’s own national social media head has said Rekha Gupta’s husband is today’s Rama Dhawan of Delhi, then the message is clear. Politicians, bureaucrats, and senior journalists have understood exactly what he means. He has made my work easier.”
Pointing to the videos in circulation, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “In this video, you can see that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is not present. It is her husband who is there, surrounded by a full army of officers and security personnel. He is directly giving instructions to officers—saying this community centre will be expanded like this, the parking will be arranged like that. I want to ask Amit Malviya and the BJP, under what authority is the Chief Minister’s husband giving instructions to government officers? This is completely illegal.”
He said, “This reel has been posted by the Chief Minister herself, from her own account. And now the entire bureaucracy is receiving the message that it is her husband who is running the administration.”
*Through the media, Saurabh Bhardwaj asked direct questions from the BJP:
1) Is Chief Minister Rekha Gupta not capable and competent to do her work by herself?
2) Does the BJP not have any capable person who can work with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta as her OSD or PS?
3) The BJP should share any law according to which the husband of the Chief Minister can give instructions to government officials on her behalf.
Expressing concern about the wider implications, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We are worried about who else the Chief Minister’s husband is meeting in her place, what government-related meetings he is attending, and what decisions he is taking. This is a serious matter. With which government officers, with which private contractors working with the government, with which tender and contract holders, apart from what we see in these photos, is he meeting? These are our concerns, and I believe the top leadership of the BJP must answer them.”
