Deepak-Raj Gupta is making no secret of his ambition to one day become a minister in Andrew Barr's Labor government.
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But Mr Gupta's immediate priority will be serving up a home-cooked meal for his family on Monday night, as he prepares for life as the territory's newest parliamentarian.
Mr Gupta, 53, will on Tuesday be officially installed as Labor's new member for Yerrabi, replacing the recently-retired Meegan Fitzharris.
Ms Fitzharris' shock resignation created a vacancy in the Gungahlin-based seat, which Elections ACT confirmed would be filled by Mr Gupta after conducting a countback of votes from the 2016 election on Monday afternoon.
The former health and transport minister's replacement would have been former Labor MLA and Bendigo Bank chairman Jayson Hinder, but he was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after the election. Mr Gupta polled 5.8 per cent of the vote at the 2016 ballot, the lowest of Labor's five candidates.
Mr Gupta enters the ACT Assembly on the back of a 17-year career in the public service, which he ended just days before Ms Fitzharris' announcement.
Born in India, Mr Gupta was a former chairman of the Australia India Business Council and had been considering working in trade between the two nations before last month's surprise turn of events.
On Monday, Mr Gupta was confident that his professional experience would hold him in good stead as he attempted to fill Ms Fitzharris' "big shoes" in the electorate.
"I'm bringing 30 years of good corporate and professional and community experience to the Assembly," Mr Gupta said.
"I should be able to fill those shoes. I know it's a big task but a thousand-mile journey starts with step one, and my step one will be to start working hard for the people of Yerrabi."
Ms Fitzharris' three portfolios have already been re-allocated, but Mr Barr is expected to promote a backbencher to cabinet to help spread the workload.
Asked if he held ambitions of a rapid promotion, Mr Gupta said "the aspiration is always there", before stressing that it was a decision for his colleagues.
News of Ms Fitzharris' immediate departure temporarily shifted the balance of power within Labor's parliamentary ranks in favour of the left faction. But Mr Gupta, who had been factionally unaligned, was quickly recruited to join Mr Barr's right faction, as the Chief Minister sought to head off any potential threats to his grip on power.
Mr Gupta insisted that it was too early to lay out his priorities in office, saying he was focused on learning the "rules of the land".
As to how he planned to spent his last night as a private citizen, Mr Gupta said a home-cooked meal would be on the menu.
"We'll have a nice quiet dinner ... they will probably ask me to cook for them," he said.
"During my student days I was working as a chef, so they might pick out something from the menu and ask me to do a good curry."
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
