'Bharat' Atishi Takes Charge Of Delhi

IMAGE: Atishi is Delhi's third lady chief minister after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit. All photographs: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo

IMAGE: On her Instagram handle, the 43 year old describes her thus: 'Working for an educated, empowered, and aspirational India. Education Minister of Delhi ' MLA Kalkaji ' Rhodes Scholar 'Harry Potter Fan.'
She hasn't upgraded her status to CM yet.

IMAGE: A Rhodes Scholar with degrees from Oxford, she is arguably the most educated chief minister in the country.

IMAGE: When Congressman Asif Khan called her a Jew before the 2019 Lok Sabha election (she stood against Gautam Gambhir in the East Delhi seat, but lost), her AAP colleague Manish Sisodia declared: 'The BJP and Congressmen! Be aware that her full name is Atishi Singh. She is a Rajputani. A hardcore Kshatrani... the Queen of Jhansi. Beware!'

IMAGE: That controversy was sparked off when Atishi added Marlena -- which she had dropped the previous year -- in her 2019 election affidavit.
Marlena is an amalgam of Marx and Lenin, a surname devised by her Left leaning professor parents.

IMAGE: When she took charge on Monday, Atishi sat in a chair separate from the red chair that her political mentor and predecessor Arvind Kejriwal used.
'I will work for four months as the chief minister of Delhi like Bharat did by keeping Lord Ram's khadaun on the throne.
'Arvind Kejriwal has set an example of dignity in politics by stepping down. The BJP left no stone unturned to tarnish his image,' she told reporters after taking charge.

IMAGE: It is believed in some quarters that Kejriwal, his wife Sunita and Sisodia chose Atishi over other AAP contenders for the post because she was less likely to stick to the chair if Kejriwal decided to resume charge if his party won a third successive mandate in February.

IMAGE: Atishi's low profile husband Pravin Singh is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, who has worked in the corporate and social sectors.