Atishi Marlena


Atishi Singh is an Indian politician, educator, political activist and MLA from Delhi. She is a member of the Political Affairs Committee of Aam Aadmi Party. She served as Advisor to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, primarily on education, from July 2015 to 17 April 2018.

Early life and education

Atishi was born to Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi on 8 June 1981 in Punjabi Rajput family. She was given the middle name 'Marlena' by her parents after Marx and Lenin. As she grew up, she chose to use "Atishi" as her name, dropping her surname from daily use, since she wanted people to focus on her work rather than her lineage. After being raised in Delhi, and finishing high school from Springdales School, New Delhi, Atishi graduated in history from St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 2001. Soon after, she went to the Oxford University 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.
Atishi spent some time teaching at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh. She has also worked with the non-profit organisation Sambhavana Institute of Public Policy.

Political career

Although always interested in public policy, Atishi observed the 2011 Indian Anti-corruption movement as a sceptical outsider, believing that single-issue campaigns were ineffective. 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 vital 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 as the Lok Sabha in-charge for South-East Delhi for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She contested from the East Delhi parliamentary 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 is currently an elected MLA from Kalkaji constituency of South Delhi. She defeated Dharambir Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, by 11,422 votes in the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election.

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. The project was rejected by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in 2016.