BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, 'thrown out' of Delhi assembly in past, now becomes speaker

BJP MLA Vijender Gupta was on Monday elected as the speaker of the new Delhi legislative assembly through a voice vote.

Chief minister Rekha Gupta and LoP in Delhi Assembly, Atishi, accompanied Vijender Gupta to the Chair.

"Today I took oath as member of Delhi Legislative Assembly for the third time," the BJP MLA said on X after being sworn-in.

Former chief minister Atishi congratulated Gupta on becoming the speaker.

"I congratulate Vijender Gupta, who served twice as the Leader of the Opposition. Today, as you become the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly, I, on behalf of all of us, offer my heartfelt congratulations. Vijender Gupta Ji has always raised the issues of the people in the assembly, and he has done so with great strength. Once again, congratulations to you on becoming the Speaker," she said.

Gupta, who was named the new speaker of the assembly earlier, had defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Pradeep Mittal from Rohini by a margin of nearly 28,000 votes.

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Vijender Gupta (@Gupta_vijender) February 24, 2025

The new speaker of the Delhi assembly hails from Baniya community and started his political innings as a student leader in the 1980s at Delhi University.

His electoral journey officially started in 1997 when he was elected as Councilor of Municipal Corporation of Delhi. He had multiple high-ranking positions over the years.

Notably, Gupta's elevation to the role speaker sparked a buzz since he has often been seen being marshalled or dragged out of the Delhi assembly over the last decade of AAP rule.

One such dramatic visual made headlines in 2015 when Gupta was seen being lifted and forced out by several marshals during an assembly session as he tried to resist them. 

- @narendramodi@gupta_rekha@Gupta_vijender@BJP4Delhi@AAPDelhi@AtishiAAP@INCIndiapic.twitter.com/FSxTxgAYii Dalip Singh (@DalipSi47831092) February 24, 2025

Earlier, the first session of the newly elected Delhi assembly kicked off with the new MLAs taking oath of office. The session will continue till February 27.