• AAP leader Atishi took oath as Delhi’s Chief Minister on September 21.

• She is Delhi’s third woman CM after Congress’ Sheila Dikshit and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj and also the youngest of all three to hold the top office in the national capital. Dikshit was 60 years old when she took charge while Swaraj was 46.

• Atishi, 43, is only the second woman Chief Minister in the country at present, alongside West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee.

• She also became the 17th woman to hold the post of Chief Minister in independent India.

• The senior AAP leader will have a brief tenure in office as Assembly elections in the national capital are due in February 2025.

• A first-time legislator, Atishi is a key face of the party and managed AAP’s operations during Arvind Kejriwal's time in Tihar jail in connection with the excise policy case.

• The Kalkaji MLA’s name was proposed by Kejriwal, who tendered his resignation as Chief Minister, for the top post.

Atishi’s “meteoric” rise 

• From being an adviser to the Delhi government to becoming a key face of the cabinet in the absence of senior AAP leaders, Atishi’s ascent in the party and government is believed to be phenomenal.

• Her parents Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi were Delhi University professors.

• Atishi received her Bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College and topped her batch. She also holds postgraduate degrees in Education and History from the University of Oxford. 

• Atishi was a founding member of AAP and played a pivotal role in shaping its policies, including as a key member of the 2013 Manifesto Drafting Committee. 

• Before venturing into active politics, Atishi had dropped her surname Marlena, a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin.

• Even though Atishi joined AAP in 2013, she stayed in the background working as an adviser to the government on education-related policies and made a foray into electoral politics only in 2019 when she contested the Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi against BJP’s Gautam Gambhir, only to taste defeat.

• In 2020, Atishi contested in the Delhi Assembly polls and was elected as an MLA from Kalkaji.

• In 2022, she addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, highlighting Delhi as a global model for urban governance.

• She was inducted into the cabinet at a time when the government was staring at a crisis in the aftermath of the arrest of Manish Sisodia in February 2023 in the excise policy case.

• Sisodia was not only the deputy CM of Delhi holding several key portfolios but was also a trusted aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The problem was compounded as another key lieutenant of the government, Satyendar Jain, had also tendered his resignation from the cabinet at the same time.

• But Atishi rose to the occasion and took to governance. Steadily, she rose through the ranks and is currently holding the highest number of portfolios, including key ones such as finance, PWD and education.

A list of all women Chief Ministers in India’s history:

• Sucheta Kripalani: Independent India’s first woman CM, Kripalani headed the Congress government in Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967

• Nandini Satpathy: The second woman CM of an Indian state, the Congress leader governed Odisha between 1972 and 1976. Her tenure coincided with the declaration of the Emergency in 1975

• Shashikala Kakodkar: The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party leader had two stints as CM of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu from 1973 to 1979. Goa gained statehood in 1987 while Daman and Diu remained a Union Territory

• Anwara Taimur: The first Muslim woman Chief Minister of an Indian state, she headed a Congress government in Assam from 1980 to 1981

• V.N. Janaki Ramachandran: The actor-turned-politician, apart from being Tamil Nadu’s first woman CM, was also the first film artiste to hold the post in India. She held the post for 23 days in 1988 following the death of her husband M.G. Ramachandran

• J. Jayalalithaa: Another actor-turned-politician, Jayalalithaa served more than 14 years as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, spanning six terms

• Mayawati: The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo served four times as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for a combined seven years

• Rajinder Kaur Bhattal: Punjab’s only woman Chief Minister, the Congress leader’s tenure lasted from 1996 to 1997

• Rabri Devi: Taking the reins after her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav was sent to jail in 1997, she is Bihar’s only woman Chief Minister.

• Sushma Swaraj: Delhi’s first woman Chief Minister, the BJP leader had a brief tenure of 52 days in 1998.

• Sheila Dikshit: The senior Congress leader remains Delhi’s longest-serving Chief Minister, having held office for 15 years between 1998 and 2013

• Uma Bharti: A leader of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, she was Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister from 2003 to 2004

• Vasundhara Raje: The daughter of Vijayaraje Scindia-Shinde and Jivajirao Scindia-Shinde, the maharaja of Gwalior, she governed Rajasthan as Chief Minister for 10 years

• Mamata Banerjee: The incumbent West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo is in her third successive term in office since assuming power in 2011

• Anandiben Patel: Gujarat’s only woman Chief Minister, she succeeded Narendra Modi after he was sworn in as Prime Minister. Her tenure lasted from 2014 to 2016.

• Mehbooba Mufti: The People’s Democratic Party leader was Jammu & Kashmir’s first woman Chief Minister. She was also the last Chief Minister of the erstwhile state.

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