- Saturday, December 21, 2024
This 43-year-old Oxford-educated politician has graduated from being a backroom face to becoming the key member of the AAP cabinet in Delhi
By: Shajil Kumar
Though Atishi was one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), this 43-year-old Oxford graduate has preferred to stay in the background for most part of her stint within the party.
She was inducted into the cabinet only in February last year when Manish Sisodia was arrested in the excise policy case.
But the subsequent arrests of AAP top leaders forced her to hold fort and Atishi soon became the key face of the cabinet.
Atishi also defended the government and the party during critical periods such as Delhi water crisis or when party’s Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal alleged assault by Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar.
She soon gained confidence of her bosses and currently holds the highest number of portfolios, including key ones such as finance, PWD and education.
Atishi is considered close to both Arvind Kejriwal and his second in command Sisodia
Hot seat
Now with her party unanimously agreeing to make her Kejriwal’s successor, she has now landed in the hot seat.
She has become the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Sheila Dikshit of the Congress and Sushma Swaraj of BJP.
While Dikshit holds the distinction of being Delhi’s longest serving chief minister, holding office for 15 years from 1998 to 2013, Swaraj had a short stint of 52 days in 1998.
In her first remarks after being chosen as chief minister, Atishi credited AAP for picking up a first-time politician like her for such a huge responsibility.
“Had I been in some other party, I wouldn’t even have got a ticket to contest polls,” she said.
She also thanked Kejriwal and called him elder brother, and vowed to work towards bringing him back as chief minister.
“Do not garland me or congratulate me as its a sad moment that Kejriwal is resigning as Delhi chief minister,” she remarked.
Immediate challenges
The Delhi assembly’s term ends on February 23 next year and elections are expected to be held sometime early February.
Being chosen just months short of Delhi polls, Atishi has her task cut out.
She will have to hold cabinet meetings to approve and fast track key projects and policies like the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana and the Electric Vehicle 2.0 Policy among others.
Past distinctions
Atishi played a pivotal role in shaping AAP’s policies and was a key member of the 2013 Manifesto Drafting Committee.
She is known for her role as one of the key architects of Delhi’s famed education revolution, when she played a key role in improving the infrastructure of the Delhi government schools, forming School Management Committees (SMCs) under the Right to Education Act, strengthening regulations to restrain private schools from hiking fees arbitrarily and introducing the Happiness Curriculum.
Electoral fortunes
Though Atishi has been with AAP since 2013, she entered the rough and tumble of electoral politics only in 2019.
She contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 from East Delhi against BJP’s Gautam Gambhir, and was defeated.
In 2020, Atishi again contested elections, this time the Delhi Assembly polls, and was elected as an MLA from Kalkaji.
Educational background
Atishi is the daughter of Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, and did her schooling from Springdales School.
She then did her bachelor’s in History from St Stephen’s College and topped her batch.
She did her Masters from Oxford University, and holds postgraduate degrees in Education and History.
She later spent seven years in a Madhya Pradesh village, focusing on organic farming and progressive education.
Before venturing into active politics, Atishi had dropped her surname Marlena, a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin, to avoid her political affiliations from being misconstrued.
