Rekha Gupta govt stares at a busy year with many unfulfilled promises

The BJP, which returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, ends 2025 with parts of its poll promises fulfilled, leaving Chief Minister Rekha Gupta with her work cut out for many months to come.

After ending the decade-long AAP rule earlier in the year, the BJP-led dispensation moved quickly to roll out the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the capital.

The recent launch of Atal Canteen offering subsidised meals to construction workers, daily wagers, and slum-dwellers at Rs 5 is another poll promise that has been fulfilled.

At the same time, the chief minister acknowledged that several headline poll commitments remain on the drawing board.

Among the most closely watched promises is the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana, under which the BJP pledged a monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 to economically weaker women.

LPG cylinders at Rs 500 and two free refills annually, during Holi and Diwali, are still hankered after by the city residents.

Governance outreach was something that the Gupta government stressed right from the time it came to power.

The chief minister personally led weekly Jan Sunwai programmes at her official residence, Mukhyamantri Jan Sewa Sadan, positioning these meetings as a platform to address citizen grievances.

Administrative restructuring also figured prominently, with the creation of two new districts, taking Delhi’s total to 13, a move aimed at improving service delivery.

Yet, even as policy announcements multiplied, the government grappled to resolve longstanding city maladies, such as air pollution, which engulfed Delhi-NCR in the winter.

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Measures such as the ‘no PUCC, no fuel’ rule, mechanical sweeping, deployment of anti-smog guns, and mist sprayers offered only short-term relief, and the pollution remained almost throughout winter in the unbreathable category.

In education, the government pitched its Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, as a measure to curb arbitrary fee hikes by private schools.

In health, the Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and the launch of the Vaya Vandana Yojana for the elderly were key measures.

The government has also set its sights on completing 11 under-construction hospital projects, a move expected to add over 10,000 beds to the public healthcare system.

Infrastructure remained a central plank of the BJP’s narrative.

Gupta, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented a Rs 1 lakh crore budget for 2025-26 with a focus on roads, drinking water, and Yamuna rejuvenation.

The government secured Rs 800 crore under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund, with the Public Works Department targeting repairs of 500 km of roads by March 2026.

Environmental clearances for long-pending projects such as Barapullah Phase-III and the Nand Nagri flyover were obtained, while the ambitious 55-km elevated Ring Road corridor moved to the feasibility stage.

Water management, a perennial flashpoint, saw the unveiling of a long-awaited drainage master plan aimed at reducing waterlogging and flood-related accidents over the next five years.

The government announced a one-time late payment surcharge waiver on water bills to help the Delhi Jal Board recover long-pending dues.

The cleaning of the Yamuna, one of the BJP’s core electoral planks, received renewed attention through a 45-point action plan involving multiple agencies.

Projects worth over Rs 1,800 crore were launched under ‘Sewa Pakhwara’ events, signalling an attempt to translate political intent into measurable action.

As Delhi prepares to step into 2026, the Rekha Gupta government stares at a defining phase, with major welfare promises yet to be rolled out and civic issues continue to test governance capacity.