In a fresh political controversy, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is facing allegations of 'nepotism' from the rival party AAP after her husband, Manish Gupta, was seen attending a government meeting on Sunday . AAP is raising questions for permitting her husband to attend official government meetings, claiming that the action was "unconstitutional" and an "example of nepotism."
Reacting to this, former CM Arvind Kejriwal's party hit back at the current CM and compared the situation with the "Phulera Panchayat" - a reference to the web series Panchayat. In the series, the husband of an elected woman village head informally assumes leadership responsibilities.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said Rekha Gupta’s husband attending official meetings is unconstitutional. He raised a question that why a family member was involved in government affairs. Bharadwaj posted images from the Chief Minister's Instagram account on X. The images showed the CM's husband, Delhi-based businessman Manish Gupta, sitting next to her at an official review meeting with officials. Gupta's Twitter account also included the same pictures.
Bhardwaj wrote on X, “Delhi government becomes Phulera Panchayat. Just as in Phulera's panchayat, where the woman sarpanch's husband acted as the sarpanch, today in Delhi, the CM's husband is sitting in official meetings. We had previously mentioned that the CM's husband attends official meetings, conducts meetings with officials, and carries out inspections. This is completely unconstitutional.”
“Delhi government has turned into Phulera Panchayat,” Bharadwaj wrote, drawing a parallel to the fictional village of ‘Phulera’ in the web series Panchayat in which the husband of a woman sarpanch informally exercises authority. “Just like the husband of the female head used to work as the head in Phulera Panchayat, today in Delhi the husband of the CM is sitting in official meetings… This is completely unconstitutional. Democracy and the constitutional system are being made fun of in the country’s capital,” he alleged.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “Welcome to Phulera Panchayat. Prime Minister Modi has made two chief ministers in Delhi. Rekha Gupta is the CM, and her husband is the super CM. BJP has ruined Delhi in just six months.” The Congress, in its post on X, questioned who was running the government: “Madam Rekha Gupta or her husband?”
Earlier, on April 12, Manish Gupta was also seen with CM Rekha Gupta in the meeting of the Delhi Municipal Corporation, Jal Board, PWD, and Delhi Urban Centre Improvement Board.Reportedly, Gupta's husband attended the meeting with representatives from the Shalimar Bagh seat as well as BJP party activists, despite the fact that he does not have an official party position there. The AAP's accusations were not addressed by Gupta's office.
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