After Over 4 Decades, Haryana BJP Gets Its Second Woman Chief

The Haryana unit of the BJP on Thursday got its second woman president after more than four decades when the party appointed Archana Gupta as its new chief. 

Archana Gupta, a doctor by profession, is presently the state general secretary of the party.

Kamla Verma, a veteran BJP leader, served as the first woman president of the BJP's Haryana unit from 1980-83. She passed away in 2021 at the age of 93.

BJP president Nitin Nabin on Thursday named presidents for the party's Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Tripura units, according to separate notifications issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh.

While Archana Gupta was appointed as BJP Haryana president, Sardar Kewal Singh Dhillon was made the party's Punjab unit chief, Abhishek Debroy was appointed the party's Tripura unit chief, while Union minister Harsh Malhotra was named the BJP's Delhi unit president.

Gupta, who takes over from incumbent Mohan Lal Badoli, thanked the party leadership for entrusting her the responsibility.

Hailing from Panipat, Gupta has served the party in different capacities, including its district unit president.

Speaking to reporters in Panipat, she said the BJP has been continuously working to give opportunities to women in every field by treating them as equal partners.

She also slammed the Congress and the other opposition parties for “betraying” women by opposing the amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament, alleging that they repeatedly blocked efforts to ensure reservation for women in legislatures.

She thanked her predecessors, including Mohan Lal Badoli, Nayab Singh Saini, Om Prakash Dhankar and Subhash Barala, for putting in a lot of hard work to strengthen the BJP in Haryana.

“Strengthening the party further will be one of my focus areas. I will also work to increase women's participation in various spheres and take more steps for their empowerment,” Gupta said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)