Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday said her government is focused on strengthening governance, easing traffic congestion, reclaiming public spaces and cleaning the Yamuna as part of its vision to transform Delhi into a world-class capital, while asserting that public opinion remains central to policymaking. The people and their opinions matter more than the government, Gupta said in an exclusive interview with The Morning Standard.

Gupta said she is determined to develop Delhi into “a world-class city” and had spent first 17 months restoring governance after inheriting what she described as an administration whose “very ethos” had been destroyed by the previous AAP dispensation. Reflecting on the experience, she said “it was not an easy task”, and alleged that there had been “a complete breakdown of governance and widespread corruption by the AAP government”.

Acknowledging traffic challenges, she said congestion was affecting productivity, businesses and quality of life. “Every minute lost in traffic is time taken away from families, work and economic growth,” she said.

Gupta said there was no single solution to the problem and that the government was pursuing a multi-pronged strategy by expanding electric public transport, promoting greater use of shared mobility, improving last-mile connectivity, strengthening traffic management systems and accelerating infra projects to eliminate bottlenecks.