NEW DELHI: When Atishi takes oath as Delhi Chief Minister on September 21, she will enter history books as being only the third woman to accomplish the feat after BJP’s Sushma Swaraj and Congress’ Sheila Dikshit. Atishi’s elevation to the top post comes at a crucial juncture for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is looking to return to power in the Delhi Assembly polls early next year as well as for the government, which will have to fast-track pending policies and schemes for public welfare.
The senior leader will have her task cut out after assuming office and will be running against time to ensure implementation of schemes like Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 and doorstep delivery of services among others. However, Atishi is not new to rising to such situations. Her induction into the cabinet also happened when the government was going through testing times following the arrest of deputy chief minister and the then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s trusted lieutenant, Manish Sisodia last year in excise policy case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Atishi, along with Saurabh Bharadwaj, joined the Delhi government following the resignation of Sisodia and Satyendar Jain. Atishi, 43, took to governance, heading 13 major portfolios in the Kejriwal government, including those of finance, revenue, education and public works department.
She was unanimously chosen as the chief minister-designate during the legislature party meeting here on Tuesday.
Even though Atishi joined AAP in 2013, she stayed in the background working as an adviser to the government on education-related policies and made a foray into electoral politics only in 2019 when she unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi against BJP’s Gautam Gambhir. Before venturing into active politics, Atishi dropped her surname Marlena, a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin, since she wanted that her political affiliations should not be misconstrued.
In 2020, Atishi again contested elections, this time the Delhi Assembly polls, and was elected as an MLA from Kalkaji. The fact that she enjoys the confidence of Kejriwal and Sisodia paved the way for her to succeed Kejriwal. Atishi’s parents Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi were Delhi University professors. She received her Bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College and topped her batch.
She also holds postgraduate degrees in Education and History from the University of Oxford.