New Delhi [India], April 9 — In a sweeping administrative overhaul, the BJP-led Delhi government on Wednesday canceled 177 political nominations made by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in various boards, committees, and constitutional bodies of the national capital.
According to an official order, the canceled nominations spanned 17 key institutions, including the Delhi Jal Board, Animal Welfare Board, Delhi Haj Committee, Pilgrimage Development Committee, Urs Committee, and multiple language and cultural academies like Hindi Academy, Urdu Academy, Punjabi Academy, Sahitya Kala Parishad, and the Sanskrit Academy.
Many of the canceled appointments were held by current or former AAP MLAs, party office bearers, and their family members. In 2024, for instance, AAP MLA Pawan Rana was appointed Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, while Vinay Mishra served as Vice Chairman. Preeti Tomar, wife of AAP leader Jitendra Tomar, was also appointed as a member. Former MLA Abdul Rahman and MLA Haji Yunus were members of the Delhi Haj Committee, and MLA Jarnail Singh was Vice-Chairman of the Punjabi Academy.
Similarly, Ajesh Yadav, a former MLA, chaired the Agriculture Marketing Board, while Aadil Ahmad Khan was named its vice-chairman.
Government sources cited that these appointments were largely political in nature, claiming that they were made to reward party loyalists rather than serve public interest. “These were not merit-based nominations. Most were designed to benefit specific individuals tied to the previous regime,” said a government official.
The move comes amid a broader narrative shift in the capital’s governance. On April 8, Delhi’s new Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated several development initiatives in her constituency, Shalimar Bagh, emphasizing her administration’s focus on slum rehabilitation and grassroots development.
She announced that Rs 700 crore allocated to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) would now be used to renovate and distribute 52,000 flats built a decade ago but left unused. CM Gupta criticized previous administrations for misleading slum dwellers and promised that the BJP government would deliver basic amenities like water, sanitation, parks, and housing to all underprivileged citizens.
“In the name of governance, only lip service was done in the past. Today, the BJP is delivering what was long denied to the poor,” she said during the inauguration.
This cancellation of AAP-era appointments signals a firm assertion of control by the new administration, with a focus on reversing perceived political favoritism and redirecting efforts toward citizen-centric governance.