It seems AAP leader Atishi has changed her name again, going by the latest party posters bearing her name. The new name of the AAP’s probable Lok Sabha candidate for East Delhi Constituency is Atishi Singh.
In August this year, AAP leader Atishi Marlena had dropped her last name ‘Marlena’ from her name. It was alleged that the name was dropped because it was ‘Christian sounding’, which may not be suitable in her campaign during Lok Sabha elections. The party had denied the allegations, saying that her real surname was Singh and the Marlena surname was given by her parents, which is a combination of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.
Subsequent to this change, the party poster carried only her first name Atishi, and she had changed her Twitter handle from @Atishimarlena to @AtishiAAP. The name was also changed in all party records and campaigning materials and on the AAP website.
At that time, Atishi had said, “My actual surname is Singh and I come from a Punjabi Rajput family. Had I wanted to appease voters then I would have gladly used my real surname.” One AAP leader had said that BJP was trying to project her as foreigner and Christian, and the party didn’t want to waste time and effort in clarifying this allegation, that’s why the decision to drop the Marlena surname was taken.
आज उप-मुख्यमंत्री @msisodia के साथ AAP की पूर्वी दिल्ली लोकसभा प्रभारी @AtishiAAP पटपड़गंज के बद्रीनाथ पार्क में क्षत्रिय विचार मंच द्वारा आयोजित विजय दशमी शस्त्र पूजन एवं वार्षिक समोराह में शामिल हुईं एवं बच्चो को पुरस्कृत किया। pic.twitter.com/lOYlV1S7Tj
— Aam Aadmi Party Delhi (@AAPDelhi) October 21, 2018
Two months later, now there has been another change in the name of the AAP leader, at least on banners. On 21st October, the official handle of AAP Delhi posted few photos on Twitter where Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Atishi was seen in an event related to Vijaya Dashami. And it can be seen that the banner on the background of the stage mentions Atishi’s name as Atishi Singh.
It is not yet known whether she has decided to change her name again, or it was a ‘mistake’ done by some party worker. The AAP website still mentions her name as Atishi only. During the last name change, she had claimed that she didn’t use her real surname Singh as she didn’t want to appease voters based on caste. In that context, it will be interesting if the AAP leader decides to use her surname now.
