Atishi Singh who is also known as Atishi Marlena is an Indian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

and MLA from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. She is a member of the Political Affairs Committee of

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...

. She served as Advisor to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi,

Manish Sisodia Manish Sisodia (born 5 January 1972) is an Indian politician and Deputy Chief Minister of Government of Delhi. He has been the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. He is also an elected (third consecutive term) MLA from Patpargan ...

, 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. In 2018, right before the national elections, 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

, and finishing high school from

Springdales School The Springdales Schools are a group of English-language, co-educational schools run by the Springdales Education Society in New Delhi, India. There are five branches of the school: Pusa Road, Dhaula Kuan, Jaipur, Kirti Nagar, and Dubai. They ha ...

(Pusa Road), New Delhi, Atishi graduated in history from

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

in 2001. Soon after, she went to the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and in 2003 she completed her master's degree in History on a

Chevening Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, in Southeast England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surr ...

scholarship. In 2005 she went to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

as a

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

. Atishi spent some time teaching at

Rishi Valley School Rishi Valley School is an Indian boarding school, founded by the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. The school has a holistic approach to education in the spirit of Krishnamurti's pedagogical vision. Community service and extracurricular activitie ...

in Andhra Pradesh. She has also worked with the non-profit organisation Sambhavana Institute of Public Policy.

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 East Delhi is an administrative district of Delhi in India. It is bounded by the Yamuna River on the west, North East Delhi to the north, Ghaziabad District of Uttar Pradesh state to the east, and Gautam Buddha Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh ...

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 Gautam Gambhir (; born 14 October 1981) is an Indian politician and former cricketer, who has played all formats of the game. He is a current member of the Lok Sabha since 2019. He received the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2019, t ...

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 Legislative Assembly elections were held in Delhi on 8 February 2020 to elect 70 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Voters turnout was recorded at 62.82%, a decline of 4.65% from the previous assembly election in Delhi but 2.2% more th ...

from Kalkaji constituency of

South Delhi South Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India with its headquarters in Saket. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Saket, Hauz Khas, and Mehrauli. It is bounded by t ...

. She defeated Dharambir Singh, a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

candidate, by 11,422 votes.

Member of Legislative Assembly

Since 2020, she is an elected member of the

7th Delhi Assembly The Seventh Legislative Assembly of Delhi was constituted on 16 February 2020 after the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections were concluded earlier on 8 February 2020 and the results were announced on 11 February 2020. It is the legislativ ...

representing

Kalkaji Assembly constituency Kalkaji Assembly constituency is one of the 70 Delhi Legislative Assembly constituencies of the National Capital Territory in northern India. Overview Present geographical structure of Kalkaji constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part ...

. ; Committee assignments of Delhi Legislative Assembly * Chairman (2022-2023), Public Accounts Committee * Member (2022-2023), Questions & Reference Committee * Member (2022-2023), Committee on Women and Child Welfare * Member (2022-2023), Committee on Ethics * Member (2022-2023), Committee on Welfare of Minorities * Member (2022-2023), Standing Committee on Education * Member (2022-2023), 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. The project was rejected by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in 2016.

Electoral performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlena, Atishi 1981 births Living people Activists from Delhi Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Indian Rhodes Scholars St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Aam Aadmi Party MLAs from Delhi Delhi University alumni Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Delhi Delhi MLAs 2020–2025