 "How Atishi went from an academic to Delhi’s youngest chief minister")
Delhi has a new chief minister in Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi. After announcing on Sunday that he would be stepping down, Arvind Kejriwal proposed the Delhi minister’s name as his successor in a meeting of the party’s legislators in the country’s capital.
While Atishi has been handed over the mantle of Delhi’s top post, Kejriwal is expected to submit his resignation papers to Delhi Lieutenant VK Saxena at 4.30 pm on Tuesday.
This is a huge jump for Atishi, the 43-year-old, who has been steadily rising within the ranks of her party. With her ascension, Atishi becomes the third woman chief minister of Delhi — Sheila Dixit and Sushma Swaraj were CMs before her.
Shortly after being named the Delhi CM, Atishi thanked her “guru” Arvind Kejriwal and said that he will remain the CM for the party and two crore people population of the national capital.
“I want to thank Delhi’s popular CM, my guru Arvind Kejriwal for giving me such a huge responsibility. It can happen only in AAP that a first-time politician can become the CM. I come from a normal family. If I would have been in any other party, I won’t even have got a poll ticket. However, Arvind Kejriwal trusted me, made me an MLA, minister and today given me a responsibility to become the CM. I am happy that Arvind Kejriwal has shown so much trust on me, but more than that I am sad because my elder brother Arvind Kejriwal is resigning today. I want to say today on behalf of AAP MLAs and two crore people of Delhi that Delhi has only one CM and his name is Arvind Kejriwal,” she said in a press conference.
Here’s a closer look at the new Delhi chief minister and her meteoric rise.
Atishi’s early years
Atishi was born on June 8, 1981, into a Punjabi and Rajput family to professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi of Delhi University. Her parents gave her the middle name of Marlena — a combination of Marx and Lenin. However, in 2018, after she joined politics, she dropped her middle name of Marlena and today, goes just by the name of Atishi.
After completing her school education at Springdales School in New Delhi, she earned her bachelor’s degree in History from St. Stephen’s College. She later became a student at Oxford University, where she earned a Chevening scholarship and finished her master’s in History in 2003. As a Rhodes scholar, she attended Magdalen College in Oxford in 2005.
Following her education, she began her career in grassroots organisations. It is said that it was during her work with non-profit organisation in Bhopal that she met the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Prashant Bhushan.
A Moneycontrol report also says that Atishi and her husband, Praveen Singh, founded a commune in 2007.
Atishi’s dive into politics
In 2013, Atishi took a plunge into politics when she joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, AAP. According to the party, Atishi was a key member of the Manifesto Drafting Committee for the 2013 Delhi elections and she has played a crucial role in “shaping the party’s policies in the early stages of formation”.
Interestingly, when Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav found themselves to be expelled from AAP, Atishi also found herself vulnerable owing to her proximity to the two leaders. At the time, she penned a letter in which she virtually declared a parting of ways with both of them. She had accused both — Yadav and Bhushan — of not trying to iron out differences with Kejriwal.
Following this, Atishi began working as an advisor to Manish Sisodia in the Education Department. During this time, she helped transform Delhi’s government schools — an issue that the party continues to project as a success.
During her time as advisor to Sisodia, the ‘Happiness Curriculum’ and ‘Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum’ were introduced in Delhi government schools, focusing on students’ emotional well-being and skill development.
However, in 2018, her stint as an advisor to Manish Sisodia in the education department came to an end when the Union Ministry of Home Affairs objected to the Delhi government’s appointment of 10 advisors, saying that proper procedure was not followed.
However, she continued working with the AAP. Her loyalty to Arvind Kejriwal paid off when, in 2019, she was fielded against Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gautam Gambhir from East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency for the Lok Sabha elections. While she lost the polls by a huge margin — more than 4.5 lakh votes — she tasted victory in the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections after being fielded from the Kalkaji constituency of South Delhi. She defeated BJP’s Dharambir Singh by at least 11,000 votes.
Integral part of AAP
As the years rolled by, Atishi has become an invaluable asset to the AAP. She has been at the forefront of the party’s communication and has taken the lead in addressing crucial issues such as the Delhi water dispute with other states. She has also been a face of the party when it comes to taking on the BJP and even the LG.
In March 2023, she was inducted into the Delhi Cabinet following the resignation of Manish Sisodia in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy case. She currently holds key portfolios of education and Public Works Department (PWD) in the Delhi government and has served as the public face of the party following Kejriwal and Sisodia’s legal challenges.
She created buzz earlier in the year when she was appointed by Kejriwal to hoist the national flag for Independence Day celebrations. However, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena put a stop to the plans.
Atishi – the right choice for Delhi
Why is it that the AAP chose Atishi over the other probables to be Delhi’s newest chief minister? It could do with the fact that that the 43-year-old as emerged as one of the key leaders in the party following the arrests of Kejriwal and Sisodia. While Kejriwal and Sisodia were behind bars during the Lok Sabha elections, she made numerous appearances on television, making her a well-known name.
She is also known to be a good orator and has been able to go up against the BJP on every charge it has levelled with meaningful rebuttals.
In June, she sat on an indefinite hunger strike against the Haryana government for not releasing 100 million gallons per day of water, creating a water crisis in the national capital. She had to be hospitalised after her health condition deteriorated.
There’s also the fact that by choosing a female candidate, the AAP is trying to portray and project itself as being gender equal and providing equal opportunities to women. If so, this could help increase its voter base amongst the women.
With inputs from agencies
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