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Delhi Assembly Elections: Three leaders of the BJP had been the chief ministers of Delhi before Congress leader Sheila Dikshit came to power in 1998 and was tumbled by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in 2013
On December 10, 1998, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj was sworn in as chief minister of Delhi by then Lt. Governor Vijay Kapoor at Raj Bhavan. (PTI Photo)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has clinched a massive victory in the Delhi assembly elections on Saturday and is set to come to power after 27 years.
In the capital city, three BJP leaders had been chief ministers before Congress came to power in 1998. The three chief ministers were – Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, and Sushma Swaraj. Now, BJP will announce the fourth chief minister.
The three chief ministers were at the helm of Delhi between 1993 and 1998.
A Lookback At BJP’s three Delhi Chief Ministers
Madan Lal Khurana
Madan Lal Khurana was the first chief minister of Delhi from December 1993 to February 1996 after the government reinstated the state Legislative Assembly through the 69th Constitution Amendment Act, 1991.
In November 1993, the BJP won assembly elections with 49 seats. Khurana was known as “Delhi ka Sher” (Lion of Delhi) but he failed to complete his term as the chief minister.
Khurana’s name also emerged in the infamous Hawala scandal in 1995 because of which he resigned under political pressure.
Sahib Singh Verma
Replacing Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma took oath as Delhi’s chief minister on February 27, 1996, and remained in power till October 1998.
Khurana continued to oppose Verma and it resulted in a power struggle between the two and infighting in the BJP.
During his tenure, Verma faced several economic issues like extremely high prices of onion and was also not able to deal with the power and water crises in Delhi.
Verma’s failure led to public discontent against the BJP and the leader had to step down from the position of chief minister a few months before the 1998 assembly elections. He served as the chief minister for two years and 228 days.
In the 2025 assembly elections, Sahib Singh Verma’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verman defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency and emerged as the biggest contender for the chief ministerial position.
Sushma Swaraj
Sushma Swaraj succeeded Verma and became the first woman chief minister of Delhi from October to December 1998.
In her 52-day chief ministerial tenure, Swaraj had to deal with problems on several fronts. Soon after coming to power, Swaraj established a committee to restore the supply of onions and decrease its prices.
She also arranged various vans which ran across Delhi to distribute onions. However, her efforts did not help the BJP from sinking. In the next assembly elections, Congress won with 52 seats and remained in power for the next 15 years.
