Who is Atishi, a look at her meteoric rise and brush with controversies
New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The speculation surrounding Delhi’s next Chief Minister has been settled, with Atishi, 43, receiving approval from the top leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to succeed Arvind Kejriwal.
She is set to become the youngest Chief Minister of the national capital.
Atishi, currently Delhi’s only female minister, is a close and trusted aide of Kejriwal. Her portfolio includes key departments such as Education, Power, Water, PWD, and Services.
As one of the senior ministers, she became the face of the Delhi government following the arrests of Kejriwal and Sisodia in connection with the alleged liquor scam.
Atishi’s rise to power, however, has not been without criticism. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused Kejriwal of selecting a “puppet” to maintain control within AAP amid reports of internal power struggles.
Atishi was born on June 8, 1981, to Delhi University (DU) professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, hailing from a Rajput family with Punjabi roots.
Educated in Delhi, Atishi attended Springdales School, Pusa Road, and went on to graduate in History from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, in 2001.
She later attended Oxford University in the UK for further studies. Before entering politics, Atishi worked as a History and English teacher at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh.
Atishi began her political career with the founding of AAP and became deeply involved in the party’s policy-making activities in 2013. She played a key role in the party’s ‘Water Satyagraha’ in Madhya Pradesh in 2015.
In April 2018, she was dismissed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as the Advisor of the Delhi Education Department. Her position was declared “null and void” by the ministry order.
In 2019, Atishi was the AAP candidate for East Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections but lost to BJP’s Gautam Gambhir by a significant margin.
In 2020, Atishi was elected as an MLA from the Kalkaji Assembly constituency in the national capital. She was appointed a minister in March 2023 after the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case.
Atishi’s rise has not been without controversies. Soon after her nomination as Chief Minister, Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal expressed her disapproval, criticising Atishi’s family for their alleged ties to Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Afzal Guru.
Maliwal accused Atishi’s parents of writing mercy petitions on Guru’s behalf.
According to some reports, her mother, Tripta Wahi, has been linked to S.A.R. Geelani, one of the notorious faces and sympathisers of Afzal Guru.
Her father, Vijay Singh, edits a communist website, Revolutionary Democracy, which upholds the legacy of the former Soviet dictator Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin.
It is worth noting that, originally named Atishi Marlena, after her parents’ ideological influences — Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin — she dropped ‘Marlena’ from her name in 2019 during the Lok Sabha elections, citing concerns that it could be interpreted as a Christian affiliation.
