Atishi shot for the stars and set course for meteoric rise; here's how

NEW DELHI: From being a first-time MLA to occupying the chief minister's chair in Delhi, Atishi's rise in Aam Aadmi Party has been meteoric.
In normal circumstances, the arc of her journey would not have been so steep and could have extended over many years. However, the situation in the capital is anything but normal. With both her mentors – Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia – being put in jail, this young politician, who was mostly working silently in the background, was pitchforked into the limelight one-and-a-half years ago as a minister.And soon it was evident that she would be a heavyweight, destined for bigger things.
A fierce Kejriwal loyalist, Atishi, 43, had first worked as an adviser in the office of the education minister in the AAP govt. After deputy CM Manish Sisodia was arrested in the excise policy case, she was inducted as a minister in March last year and soon had 13 key departments, the highest for any minister in the cabinet, under her belt.
Atishi had joined Kejriwal and Sisodia during the India Against Corruption campaign in 2012 and soon became a key member of the manifesto drafting committee, ahead of AAP's debut election in 2013. In 2015, when AAP formed its first independent govt winning a record 67 of 70 assembly seats, her impressive educational background helped her get an important responsibility in Sisodia's passionate mission to transform the education system.
She is also known for playing a key role in improving the infrastructure of state-run schools. In 2022, she addressed the UNGA in New York, highlighting Delhi as a global model for urban governance.
After graduating in history from the prestigious St Stephen's College of Delhi University, Atishi went to University of Oxford, where she secured postgraduate degrees in education and history. Her academic journey shaped her work in school reforms where she brought her intellectual rigour and vision to the task of transforming the school education system. Her colleagues in the party said she was known for her articulate advocacy and was a consistent voice for the party's principles.
"She spent seven years in a Madhya Pradesh village, focusing on organic farming and progressive education. This experience played a crucial role in strengthening her dedication to political change," said a party functionary.
She forayed into electoral politics in 2019 when she unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi against BJP's Gautam Gambhir. Next year, she contested the Delhi Assembly polls and was elected as an MLA from Kalkaji.
Before venturing into active politics, Atishi dropped her middle name, ‘Marlena', from her name, a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin, given by her parents – Tripta Wahi and Vijay Singh – both professors in Delhi University. They followed the left ideology and she, perhaps, did not want her political affiliations to be misconstrued. For a short period, she used her full name, Atishi Singh, but later dropped the surname too.
While Sisodia and Kejriwal were in jail, Atishi not only took care of governance but also defended govt and the party whenever it found itself on a sticky wicket. She even went on a hunger strike to demand Delhi's water share from Haryana when the capital was grappling with shortage of water.
Another party functionary said it was not surprising that she was considered for the top post, ahead of seniors and peers, to replace Kejriwal. "The fact that she enjoys the confidence of Kejriwal and Sisodia worked in tilting the scales in her favour," he said.