Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday, 12 June 2026, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 12 years in office with ushering in a 'new golden era' of women-led development in India, citing a sweep of flagship welfare and financial-inclusion programmes that she says have transformed the lives of crores of women across the country.

Context

Posting under the hashtag #12YearsOfNariShakti, CM Gupta wrote that when policies are designed with women's safety, dignity, and self-reliance in mind, they do not merely change lives — they awaken a new confidence within the nation's Nari Shakti (women power). She added that such policies give women the strength to fulfil their own dreams.

The post arrives as the BJP-led central government marks a political milestone — 12 years of continuous rule at the Centre — and as the party seeks to consolidate its record on gender-welfare schemes ahead of upcoming electoral cycles.

Policy Backdrop

CM Gupta specifically highlighted the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in May 2016, which provided LPG connections to below-poverty-line households, freeing millions of women from the hazards of indoor cooking smoke. Alongside it, the Swachh Bharat Mission, inaugurated in October 2014, constructed household toilets that she described as izzatghar (houses of dignity), restoring safety and self-respect to mothers and sisters.

On financial inclusion, she pointed to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana — announced in August 2014 — which linked women directly to the formal banking system through zero-balance accounts. The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, institutionalised in April 2015, she noted, gave 'new wings' to women's entrepreneurial aspirations through collateral-free micro-credit.

Perhaps the most vivid image in her post was that of crores of rural women joining Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the Lakhpati Didi initiative — a scheme under DAY-NRLM that targets annual household incomes of at least one lakh rupees — and writing, in her words, 'a new story of self-reliance.'

Stakeholders and Impact

CM Gupta also noted that a policy environment of sensitivity and security has enabled India's daughters to serve at forward positions in the defence forces — a reference to the progressive induction of women in combat and frontline military roles in recent years. She described this participation, from startups to policymaking, as proof that today's woman is the 'most empowered cornerstone' of a self-reliant and developed India.

The schemes cited touch multiple stakeholder groups: rural women benefiting from clean fuel and sanitation, women entrepreneurs accessing Mudra credit and SHG networks, and female defence personnel reaching roles previously closed to them. Together they form the policy architecture the BJP has branded under the Nari Shakti umbrella since 2014.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to implementation milestones of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — the Women's Reservation Bill passed in 2023 — which promises 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies once delimitation is complete. State budgets are also expected to carry updated Lakhpati Didi coverage targets, providing measurable benchmarks against the political narrative CM Gupta has amplified.

If the government translates this political momentum into accelerated implementation of the reservation legislation, the #12YearsOfNariShakti campaign could serve as a launchpad for a broader electoral pitch centred on women voters — a demographic that has shown rising turnout in successive general elections.