• Source:JND
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After Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's husband, Manish Gupta, was spotted at an official government meeting alongside her, reactions flooded-in from several Opposition leaders. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in-charge, Saurabh Bharadwaj termed his presence "unconstitutional" stating that Manish Gupta was not part of the Delhi government. The meeting was held in Shalimar Bagh Assembly constituency on Sunday to review development projects in the area.

CM Rekha Gupta shared pictures from the meeting on her X handle which drew attention of several Opposition leaders. Her husband, who is a businessman and a social worker, was sitting next to her wearing a yellow shirt.

Saurabh Bharadwaj compared the situation with web series 'Panchayat’ which has a fictional village of 'Phulera' where the husband of a woman leader exercised authority informally.

"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. This is completely unconstitutional. In the nation's capital, democracy and the constitutional system are being mocked in this manner," Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote in a post on X.

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"Is this not dynastic politics? Does the Chief Minister of the world's largest party have no worker left whom she can trust? What is that work which only a family member can do? What are the reasons that the Chief Minister wants to establish her husband's authority? Why is her husband being made a part of the government administrative system in this way?" The AAP leader questioned.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh also took a swipe calling out the "two Chief Ministers" in Delhi.

"Welcome to Phulera Panchayat. PM Modi has made two CMs in Delhi. Rekha Gupta is the Chief Minister, her husband is the Super Chief Minister. BJP has wrecked Delhi in 6 months," Sanjay Singh said.

The Congress also asked whether the government was being run by CM Rekha Gupta or her husband.

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BJP Retorts

The BJP retorted with a “frustrated” jibe stating that there was "nothing wrong" with CM’s husband sitting in the government meeting as he was a “representative”.

"First of all, Manish Gupta is not only the husband of Rekha Gupta, but he was also looking after the constituencies of Shalimar Bagh. He was looking after it as a social worker. He led the people's delegation. As a representative, he can sit there. The meeting was not just for officers. A few residents were also sitting there," Delhi BJP leader Harish Khurana said, as quoted by NDTV.

“AAP is frustrated. It was for only one constituency. The Chief Minister and her husband live there, so what's wrong with him attending the meeting?" he added.