From posters to performance: CM Rekha targets past regimes
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday mounted a sharp attack on previous Governments, declaring that her administration has replaced “poster politics” with performance-driven governance as it completed one year in office.
Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said her government has shifted the focus from publicity and announcements to measurable outcomes and time-bound execution.
She alleged that both the 15-year rule of the Congress and the 11-year tenure of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party were marked by excessive advertisements and confrontational politics rather than solutions.
“Delhi is no longer the Capital of blame games but the Capital of accountability,” she said. “Tweet-and-delay politics has ended. Work now moves on strict timelines.”
The Chief Minister said earlier administrations prioritised publicity over delivery, resulting in delays and stalled projects. In contrast, she said, her government follows a timeline-based working model with accountability at every level. “Less paperwork, more work” has been adopted as the guiding principle, she added.
On the issue of cleaning the Yamuna, the Chief Minister said successive Governments had made repeated announcements without visible improvement. She alleged that during 15 years of Congress rule and 11 years of AAP governance, no serious effort was made to rejuvenate the river, leading to deterioration in its condition.
After assuming office, her government began upgrading sewage treatment plants, tapping drains and launching new pollution-control projects, she said. These steps, she claimed, have resulted in concrete progress in improving water quality.
The Chief Minister also criticised earlier administrations for failing to expand waste processing capacity in line with rising garbage generation. This, she said, led to the creation of landfill “mountains” across the city. The present government has increased biomining capacity and set a target to process the entire quantity of daily waste on the same day it is generated.
On air pollution, the Chief Minister said previous Governments relied largely on slogans and press briefings. Her administration, she said, has prepared a scientific roadmap with short-term, mid-term and long-term measures and has already begun implementing it.
In the education sector, the Chief Minister said earlier that governments focused more on branding than structural reform. She said her government has implemented the Fee Regulation Act to curb arbitrary practices by private schools. The move, she said, has provided relief to lakhs of parents and addressed a long-pending issue.
Highlighting changes in administrative culture, the Chief Minister said governance in the past was marked by confrontation and political friction. Her government, she said, has prioritised dialogue, coordination and institutional reform. Digital systems, financial discipline and transparency mechanisms have been strengthened to improve service delivery.
Taking a direct swipe at Kejriwal, she alleged that while financial assistance was extended quickly in politically advantageous situations, compensation to families of Government employees and doctors who died during the COVID-19 pandemic remained unresolved for years. Her government, she said, has cleared all such pending cases.
The Chief Minister said earlier governments treated power as a means of comfort, while her administration views it as a means of service. She expressed confidence that the direction of governance in Delhi has changed within one year.
“The foundation has been laid for a comprehensive transformation of the national capital,” she said, adding that the coming years would see sustained and accountable development.
