Is Delhi getting a woman CM? Who could it be?

Is Delhi’s next chief minister going to be a woman?

That’s the rumbling that is being heard in political circles.

According to reports, the BJP could choose the next Chief Minister of Delhi from one of its newly-elected women MLAs.

The BJP on Saturday achieved a blowout victory in the Delhi Assembly polls to return to power after nearly three decades.

The party won 48 seats in the 70-seat Assembly, while the AAP was reduced to just 22 seats.

Delhi previously had three chief ministers – Sushma Swaraj, Sheila Dikshit and Atishi.

But what do we know about the next chief minister of Delhi? And whom could it be?

Let’s take a closer look:

If the reports are correct and the BJP is indeed choosing a woman legislator, the party has four choices.

Neelam Pahalwan, Rekha Gupta, Poonam Sharma and Shikha Roy all won in the recently held polls.

However, if the BJP chooses not to go with a woman legislator, the party has other options – namely ex-Union minister Smriti Irani and BJP Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj.

Now, let’s take a brief look at the women who could be in the race to be CM.

Neelam Pahalwan

Neelam Pehalwan won from Najafgarh seat against the AAP’s Tarun Kumar.

Pehalwan, who got 1,01,708 votes, defeated Kumar by 29,009 votes.

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As per Times Now, Pahalwan is the first woman MLA from Najafgarh.

The 43-year-old has a Master’s Degree in English.

She has no criminal record.

Her net worth is around Rs 12.5 crore with Rs 1.9 crore in movable assets and the rest in immovable assets.

Pahalwan is also involved in social work.

Pahalwan on social media called said her win was a “victory of development”.

“Victory of development, victory of Najafgarh. This historic victory is dedicated to the God-like people of the entire Najafgarh area. This victory is a huge step towards the bright future of our Najafgarh. Your support, love and trust is our strength. Once again, hearty congratulations and gratitude to all of you for the support given for the development of Najafgarh,” Pahalwan wrote on X.

Rekha Gupta

Rekha Gupta defeated the AAP’s Bandana Kumari in Shalimar Bagh.

Gupta, who received 68,200 votes, won by a margin of 29,595 votes

According to her Facebook profile, Gupta is the national vice president of the BJP Mahila Morcha.

She is also an ex-councillor of Ward-56, Shalimar Bagh, of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

As per her website, Gupta began her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1992.

By 1996-97, she was president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU).

In 2007, Gupta was elected as a councillor from North Pitampura.

She has served as general secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha in Delhi and as a member of the party’s national executive committee.

As per My Neta, Gupta is an advocate.

She did her LLB From Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, in 2022.

She has assets worth Rs 5 crore and there are no criminal cases against her.

Poonam Sharma

Poonam Sharma won the Wazirpur seat.

Sharma, who got 54,721 votes, defeated AAP’s Rajesh Gupta by a margin of 11,425 votes.

As per My Neta, Sharma, 40, is self-employed.

She has cleared the 12th Standard from CBSE in 2001.

She has assets worth Rs 1.2 crore.

There are no criminal cases against her.

Shikha Roy

Shikha Roy won in Greater Kailash against AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj in what is considered an upset.

Roy, who got 49,594 votes, defeated Saurabh Bharadwaj by 3,188 votes.

As per The Week, Roy is a two-time BJP councillor.

As per ET Now, Roy was the chairman of the standing committee in MCD.

According to Hindustan Times, Roy, 60, is a lawyer by profession.

Roy got her Master’s in Arts from Ludhiana’s government college in 1985.

She also has an LLB from the Department of Law, Punjab University, Chandigarh, in 1988.

Roy has assets worth Rs 16 crore.

There are no criminal cases against her.

Bansuri Swaraj

Bansuri Swaraj is the daughter of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Bansuri is the first-time MP from BJP’s New Delhi MP.

As per The Week, she is said to enjoy significant power within the Delhi BJP.

As per Moneycontrol, Bansuri is a lawyer and a co-convenor of the BJP’s legal cell.

Bansuri did a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Warwick.

She later went to the BPP Law School in London where she qualified as a Barrister at Law.

Bansuri did her Master of Studies at St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.

She has well over a decade’s worth of legal experience.

Bansuri took the political plunge in 2023 when she became co-convenor of the BJP’s legal cell.

She took on the AAP’s Somnath Bharti during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

She is a fierce critic of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Smriti Irani

Irani, who was born and raised in Delhi, is a former Union minister.

Irani has been relatively quiet since her defeat from Amethi during the Lok Sabha polls to KL Sharma of the Congress.

Irani lost by over 1.6 lakh votes to the Congress loyalist in Amethi.

Irani had shocked many in 2019 by defeating Rahul Gandhi by over 55,000 votes.

Irani was one of several high-profile BJP ministers who missed out serving in the Modi 3.0 cabinet.

Irani in September 2024 had been  assigned “supervision” of the membership drive in seven out of the Delhi BJP’s 14 district units.

Party insiders also claimed Irani had purchased a house in south Delhi.

With inputs from agencies