From ‘Christian Sounding’ To ‘Rajput Sounding’: AAP Leader Atishi Marlena Is Now Atishi Singh?

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi Marlena who had earlier dropped her surname Marlena as it allegedly sounded Christian was depicted as “Atishi Singh” at an event on Sunday (21 October), The Hindu has reported.

The surname ‘Marlena’ was reportedly given by her parents and was a combination of communist thinkers Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Atishi is a probable candidate of AAP from the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat for the 2019 general elections.

Atishi, on Sunday (21 October) attended a Kshatriya community event and in its poster Atishi was referred as “Atishi Singh”. She was a special guest at the Kshatriya Vichaar Manch Mandawali’s 26th annual shastra pooja to mark Vijayadashmi.

Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, was the chief guest of the event.

Atishi and her party both, according to the report, had said that she had to change the name because rumours were being spread that she was a Christian or a foreigner.

Atishi had also changed her twitter handle from @AtishiMarlena to @AtishiAAP. The surname Marlena was also removed from all the party press releases, websites as well as publicity materials.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party slammed Arvind Kejriwal and AAP on this issue. BJP Delhi spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that Arvind Kejriwal stands exposed after this event.

He said that AAP feared that Atishi’s surname posed a challenge among a Hindu-majority electorate adding that AAP, which claimed to enter politics to transform it, is playing politics on the basis of caste and religion just like Congress.