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Atishi Marlena
Atishi in 2017
8th Chief Minister of Delhi
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 September 2024
Lieutenant Governor	Vinai Kumar Saxena
Preceded by	Arvind Kejriwal
Cabinet Minister, Government of Delhi
In office 9 March 2023 – 17 September 2024
Chief Minister	Arvind Kejriwal
Ministry and Departments	Education Women and Child welfare Culture Tourism Public works Department
Preceded by	Manish Sisodia
Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 February 2020
Preceded by	Avtar Singh
Constituency	Kalkaji
Personal details
Born	(1981-06-08) 8 June 1981 (age 43) Delhi, India
Political party	Aam Aadmi Party
Spouse	Pravin Singh
Residence	6, Flagstaff Road, New Delhi
Education	Delhi University (BA) University of Oxford (Double MA)
Occupation	Politician
Cabinet	Atishi Marlena ministry

Atishi Marlena Singh (Hindi: [ɑːtɪʃiː mɑːɾleːnɑː sɪŋɡʱ]; born 8 June 1981), (also known as Atishi Singh or Atishi Marlena or mononymously Atishi), is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 8th Chief Minister of Delhi since 21 September 2024, after the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal. She belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party and is a member of its Political Affairs Committee, the governing body of the party. Prior to her appointment as the chief minister, she also served as the Minister of Education, P.W.D, Culture and Tourism in the Delhi Government. Previously, she served as advisor to the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, primarily on education, from July 2015 to 17 April 2018. Atishi is one of only two women currently serving as a chief minister in India, along with Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal.

Early life and education

Atishi was born to Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi on 8 June 1981. Although she comes from a family of Punjabi Family background, just before the 2019 Indian general election, she dropped 'Marlena' from her surname to “not want to waste time in proving her identity.” She was given the middle name Marlena by her parents. According to her party, the name is a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin.

Atishi was raised in Delhi. She did her schooling at Springdales School, New Delhi. She graduated in history from the St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 2001. She then went to the University of Oxford, and in 2003 she completed her master's degree in history on a Chevening scholarship. In 2005, she went to Magdalen College, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.

Political career

In January 2013, she became involved in policy formulation for the AAP, which has its roots in that movement.

She was closely involved with the Jal Satyagraha in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh 2015 and provided support to the AAP leader and activist spearheading the campaign Alok Agarwal during the historic protests, as well as during the legal battle that ensued. After the 2020 elections, she was made the AAP's in-charge for its Goa unit.

2019 Lok Sabha Elections

Atishi was appointed the Lok Sabha in-charge for East Delhi for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She contested from the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency as an AAP party candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. She lost to BJP's candidate Gautam Gambhir by a margin of 4.77 lakh votes, coming in third.

2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election

She contested in the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election from Kalkaji constituency of South Delhi. She defeated Dharambir Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, by 11,422 votes.

As a Cabinet Minister

She was inducted into the Delhi Government as a Cabinet Minister, along with Saurabh Bharadwaj after the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyender Jain.

As a Chief Minister

On 17 September 2024, she was named as the Chief Minister of Delhi in a meeting of Aam Admi Party MLAs at the residence of Arvind Kejriwal. With this, she went on to become the youngest ever CM of Delhi at an age of 43.

Member of Legislative Assembly

Since 2020, she is an elected member of the 7th Delhi Assembly representing Kalkaji Assembly constituency.

Committee assignments of Delhi Legislative Assembly

• Chairman (2022-23), Public Accounts Committee

• Member (2022-23), Questions & Reference Committee
• Member (2022-23), Committee on Women and Child Welfare
• Member (2022-23), Committee on Ethics
• Member (2022-23), Committee on Welfare of Minorities
• Member (2022-23), Standing Committee on Education
• Member (2022-23), Standing Committee on Health

Governance

Atishi was also spearheading the flagship Mohalla Sabha Project for the Government of NCT of Delhi. The effort to decentralise governance to empower every citizen was a major promise of the AAP before coming to power.

Electoral performance

Controversies

On March 15, 2019, Atishi Marlena and three other party leaders were summoned to court in response to a defamation case filed by the Delhi BJP's vice-president, Rajeev Babbar. The case stemmed from their claim that the BJP had removed 30 lakh names from Delhi's voter list. The court found the allegation prima facie defamatory and invoked Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for defamation. The case revolved around allegations of voter list manipulation and its impact on the BJP's reputation.

BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor filed a defamation suite in 2024 against Marlena and Kejriwal over the allegations of poaching.

After being elected CM, Marlena was set to move into the CM's residence, a bungalow on 6, Flagstaff Road, on 7 October 2024. However, on 9 October, the AAP alleged that the BJP had failed to allot the bungalow to her and that they were trying to "usurp" it, showing documentation that Kejriwal had already vacated the bungalow. The BJP responded by claiming that Kejriwal still had the keys to the bungalow and had failed to transfer them to Marlena himself.

References

1. "Election of India - Affidavit" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
2. "Candidate Affidavit" (PDF). 20 January 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
3. "AAP's Atishi has a surname again – and it's not 'Marlena'". Ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
4. "Atishi". Aam Aadmi Party. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
5. ^ "Atishi's journey to the top: From an activist, advisor and AAP's force to the new CM of Delhi". The Economic Times. 17 September 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
6. ^ "The Aam Aadmi of AAP: 5 personal stories of sacrifice, triumph and validation". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
7. "AAP's Atishi To Be Delhi's New Chief Minister, Chosen By Arvind Kejriwal". NDTV.com. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
8. "Atishi drops her name Marlena". Hindustan Times. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
9. Banerjee, Akash. "Six lessons in 'affordable politics': AAP victory shows how elections can be fought on a shoestring". Scroll.In. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
10. ^ "AAP leader Atishi drops her second name Marlena, denies caste angle". Hindustan Times. 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
11. "BJP, Congress, beware! Atishi Marlena is a Rajputani, warns Manish Sisodia". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 28 April 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
12. "Meet the young leaders hoping to infuse vitality into our democracy". Hindustan Times. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
13. "Who is Atishi Marlena? Everything about Delhi's new chief minister". 17 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
14. "AAP's Atishi Marlena drops second name after being announced as party's 1st candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha polls". Times Now. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
15. "Rhodes Scholars: complete list, 1903-2015". The Rhodes Trust. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
16. "Meet the young leaders hoping to infuse vitality into our democracy". 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
17. "AAP's Raghav Chadha Set To Be Appointed Vice Chairman of Delhi Jal Board, Atishi Gets New Role Too". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
18. "Amidst speculation of alliance with Congress, AAP appoints Lok Sabha in-charges for five Delhi seats". dna. 2 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
19. "AAP candidates Manish Sisodia and Atishi won from Patparganj and Kalkaji Assembly constituencies after trailing in early trends". 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
20. Babu, Nikhil M. (17 September 2024). "Atishi: From Education Minister's adviser to CM — the rise of 'Kejriwal loyalist'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
21. "AAP's Atishi to succeed Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister". The Hindu. 17 September 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
22. "How Atishi went from an academic to Delhi's youngest chief minister". Firstpost. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
23. "Committee System in Legislative Assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi" (PDF). Legislative Assembly National Capital Territory of Delhi. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
24. "Delhi Legislative Assembly National Capital Territory Of Delhi Composition Of House Committees 2021-2022". Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
25. ^ "Delhi Assembly Committees". www.delhiassembly.nic.in. Delhi Assembly. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
26. "Giving people's money back to them to spend on their own". Governance Now. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
27. "Bail to Atishi Marlena, two others in suit filed by Delhi BJP". The Times of India. The Times of India. 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
28. "Delhi court summons Arvind Kejriwal, others in defamation case by BJP". The New Indian Express. The New Indian Express. The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
29. "BJP files defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena over poaching allegation". The Hindu. 30 April 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
30. "Delhi CM Atishi to move to 6 Flagstaff Road bungalow today as Arvind Kejriwal vacates, shifting underway". The Hindu. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
31. "CM Atishi not being allotted Flagstaff Road residence, BJP trying to usurp bungalow: AAP MP". The Hindu. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.

External links

• Living people
• 1981 births
• Aam Aadmi Party MLAs from Delhi
• Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Delhi
• Activists from Delhi
• Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
• Alumni of the University of Oxford
• Chief ministers from Aam Aadmi Party
• Chief ministers of Delhi
• Delhi MLAs 2020–2025
• Delhi University alumni
• Indian Rhodes Scholars
• St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni
• Women chief ministers of Indian states