Oxford alumna, key advisor and AAP’s prominent face: 5 points about Atishi, set to replace Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi CM

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi will replace Arvind Kejriwal as the next Chief Minister of Delhi. Kejriwal, who had decided to step down as CM, proposed Atishi’s name to succeed him during the AAP legislative meeting held on Tuesday afternoon.

A member of the AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), she has been a minister in the outgoing Arvind Kejriwal cabinet since March last year. The Kalkaji lawmaker, assumes the top chair months ahead of assembly elections scheduled in Delhi before February 2025. 

Arvind Kejriwal, who announced, two days ago, that he will step down as CM leaving political pundits wondering about his successor, is expected to meet Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena and put down his papers later in the day.

Key AAP face

Atishi, 43, holds at least 14 key portfolios in the outgoing Kejriwal-led government including Finance, Education, Public Works Department, Power, Revenue, Law, Planning, Services, Information and Publicity, and Vigilance. She won from Kalkaji assembly seat in 2020 assembly polls.

Earlier, Atishi was made in-charge of the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, where her role was to prepare the party organisation in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election. She lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election from East Delhi seat to BJP’s Gautam Gambhir.

Advisor to Manish Sisodia

Until April 2018, she served as Education Minister Manish Sisodia’s Advisor. She played a pivotal role in revamping the state of education in government run schools in the national capital, according to AAP website. She is also credited for initiatives such as ‘Happiness Curriculum’ in Delhi schools.

Atishi was the most prominent face of AAP, especially after Sisodia was arrested in alleged Delhi Excise Policy case. She joins as chief minister when many leaders, including Kejriwal and Sisodia, out on bail, are facing the money-laundering charges in connection with Delhi Excise Policy case.

Oxford Alumna

Born on June 8, 1981 to Delhi University professors Vijay Kumar Singh and Tripta Wahi, Atishi did her schooling from Springdale School in New Delhi. She studied history at St. Stephen’s College, where she stood first in the Delhi University, and went on to Oxford University to pursue her Master’s on a Chevening scholarship.

A few years later she earned her second Master’s from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in Educational Research.

Removed ‘Marlena’

She was given the middle name ‘Marlena’ by her parents. According to her party, the name was a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin. In 2018, right before the national elections, she, however, chose to use ‘Atishi’ as her name, dropping her surname from daily use, since she wanted people to focus on her work rather than her lineage.

When she was asked why she chose to remove ‘Marlena’ from her name, Atishi responded privately, ‘They (BJP) have set the rules. We are new in politics. We need to follow those rules,” she had said. Atishi was also referred to as Atishi Singh in some events then.

‘Committed Activist, Clean Image’

Atishi has been a committed activist who has chosen politics to achieve lasting change, says the website. She spent seven years in a small village in Madhya Pradesh where she got involved in organic farming and progressive education systems. She worked with several non-profit organisations there, where she met some AAP members for the first time.

Atishi joined AAP at the time of its inception. A key member of the Manifesto Drafting Committee of the party for the 2013 Assembly election, she played an important role in shaping the party’s policies in the early stages of formation. She has registered her presence as a spokesperson of the party.

With a clean image, Atishi could have an appeal for the women constituency that Congress leader and former chief minister of Delhi late Sheila Dikshit used to enjoy, Chowdhury said.

Dikshit, was the longest-serving chief minister of Delhi and the longest-serving woman chief minister of any Indian state or a period of 15 years from 1998 until 2013, when Kejriwal’s AAP wrested Delhi from the Congress party.