A Few days ago the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia tweeted to call out BJP and Congress over the controversy related to AAP's East Delhi candidate Atishi.

His tweet roughly translates to “I am sad that BJP and Congress are spreading lies about our candidate from East Delhi Atishi AAP. Listen, BJP and Congress- Atishi Singh is her full name. She is Rajputani. Pure Kshatriya... She is the queen of Jhansi. Stay safe. She will win and will create history.”

This was retweeted by Atishi’s official Twitter handle @AtishiAAP. According to articles by Times of India and Business Standard, a former Congress MLA Asif Khan had recently told that Atishi is a jew at a gathering in Okhla. "You may vote AAP, you may cast your vote for the broom. But if you vote for a Jew, I will mind it," he is reported to have said. This brought about tension on social media where several users pitched in their opinions and most of them condemned Khan’s words. Some are even seen to be criticising AAP for clarifying that she is a Kshatriya Hindu as if that matters at all and many are raising questions as to why this discriminatory action against the Jew minority is prompted by Congress.

Kanchan Gupta tweeted: "Asif Md Khan, former Congress MLA from Okhla, said at a poll rally Atishi (of AAP) is a "Yehudi" (Jew) and "Muslims cannot vote for a Jew". Atishi is not a Jew. Even if she were that is no bar in #India. #Congress stands for anti-semitism. India does not."

Atishi herself has answered all these claims and news about her that is spreading rapidly on media platforms. Firstly in a press conference, she clarified what her name really is. She said, “I belong to a Punjabi Hindu family. I am a Kshatriya. My last name was coined from Marx and Lenin and was given to me by my left-leaning parents”. She also filmed an interview with Barkha Dutt where she clarifies about her name.

Atishi did a press conference to clarify about her name and caste as reported by Times of India. In the press conference, she said: “I never used my surname. My full name is Atishi Marlena Singh. We are against the politics of religion and caste. But when Congress has stooped so low, it is important that we expose them”.

Her legal name is Atishi Marlena

She had to drop her second name in August 2018 but filled her name as “Atishi Marlena” in her affidavit. When asked about it she told The Hindu “That is my legal name. But I have decided to fight the election using my first name and the EVM would say ‘Atishi’”. She justified dropping Marlena from her name by saying that she didn't want people to make an issue out of it.

Her affidavit also shows her legal name as Atishi Marlena.

Some have also allegedly claimed that the AAP party had forced her to remove her ‘Christian-sounding’ name to avoid problems during elections ( This article by The Print claims so by citing unnamed sources ) however AAP clarified that changing her name was her own decision.

Another notable incident regarding this is Tiranga TV’s tweet about it. They had reported the incident claiming Khan to be an Ex Congress MLA and have not mentioned the fact that he is still an active member of Congress.

The Times of India article has referred to Asif Khan as Congress Leader and several other articles establish the evident fact that he is still in Congress. The tweet from Tiranga TV is misleading because it makes it sound as if Khan is now not a part of Congress. 

It is also be noted that this channel is supported by Congress leader Kapil Sibal and recently Fact Hunt had published an article exposing their usage of a misleading headline.

The controversy started stirring up because Atishi had claimed to use only her first name as her electoral name, however, all party banners and posters were carrying ‘Singh’. Times Now has called this electoral ‘tactics’ by the AAP as this is not the first time this has happened. In 2014, AAP leader whose name is Ashutosh started going by the name Ashutosh Gupta during election time. Times Now is seen to criticise AAP for planning to woo people based on religion and caste.

Conclusion: The legal name of AAP's East Delhi candidate is Atishi Marlena and not Atish Singh as claimed by Manish Sisodia. Singh is the title of her father and husband but she has never used the title. Her last name was coined from Marx and Lenin and was given to me by her left-leaning parents.

It is saddening to see political indulging religion and caste in many aspects though they claim to stay out of it. No one should be discriminated on political grounds for following or belonging to a particular religion or caste however the situation still prevails.