The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) targeted Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, sharing a purported photo from a meeting in which her husband Manish Gupta was seated beside her.
The national capital’s opposition party compared the administration to the ‘Phulera’ panchayat, which borrows its name from the fictional village of Phulera in the popular Netflix web series ‘Panchayat.’
In its jibe, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP claimed that the national capital was being run like a village panchayat, with non-elected family members exercising influence.
‘Government of ‘Phulera Ki Panchayat’ in Delhi. CM Rekha Gupta’s husband is holding meetings with officials, AAP
In the comedy drama Panchayat, the village head is a woman, while her husband calls the shots.
AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj accused Chief Minister Rekha Gupta of allowing her husband to participate in official work, terming it “unconstitutional” and a “mockery” of democratic norms.
“Delhi Government Turns into Phulera Panchayat. Just as in Phulera’s Panchayat, where the woman Sarpanch’s husband used to act as the real head, today in Delhi the CM’s husband is seen sitting in official meetings. We had pointed out earlier, to,o that the CM’s husband sits in official meetings, holds discussions with officers, and even takes part in inspections. This is completely unconstitutional. In the nation’s capital, democracy and constitutional norms are being made a mockery of in this manner,” Bharadwaj said in a post on X.
The AAP leader also accused the BJP of double standards and accused the Chief Minister’s husband of “unconstitutional interference” in government functioning, comparing the situation to a “Phulera Panchayat.”
“The BJP, which leaves no chance to curse the Congress for dynastic politics, must answer–if this is not dynasty politics, then what is it? Does the Chief Minister of the world’s largest party not have even a single worker left whom she can trust? What is the kind of work that only a family member can do? What are the reasons that the CM wants to establish her husband’s authority? Why is her husband being made a part of the official administrative system in this way?”
The government of ‘Phulera Ki Panchayat’ in Delhi.
Bharadwaj also stated that the photos of the CM’s husband seated in meetings were sourced from Rekha Gupta’s official Instagram account as well as the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) handle.
What is the controversy about?
The photos shared by Aam Aadmi Party were from a review meeting chaired by CM Rekha Gupta on Saturday at Jan Seva Sadan in Shalimar Bagh constituency. The Chief Minister shared the photos on her X.
“Today, the Chief Minister reviewed the ongoing development works in the Shalimar Bagh Assembly constituency at Jan Seva Sadan. In the meeting, officials were directed to regularly assess the progress of ongoing works and submit detailed status reports within the stipulated time frame,” Gupta wrote in her post.
The images showed the CM’s husband, sitting next to her at an official review meeting with officials.
Discussions were held on pending projects and land-use issues, with decisions to set up harvesting points in waterlogging-prone areas, initiate market revitalisation, and remove tilted trees, the chief minister wrote.
Although Gupta’s husband holds no official party post in the Shalimar Bagh constituency, he has been attending meetings in which officials and the constituency’s BJP party workers were also present. The BJP responded to the allegation, saying the CM’s husband was there as a social worker from the area.
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