National

Atishi Holds on to Her Kalkaji Seat

Published

1 year ago

February 8, 2025

In the 2025 Delhi assembly elections, Chief Minister Atishi successfully retained her Kalkaji seat, despite the BJP’s overwhelming win in the national capital, which included surprising losses for prominent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) figures such as former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Atishi, who won her seat in 2020, faced competition from BJP’s former MP Ramesh Bidhuri and Alka Lamba from Congress.

With the defeat of key AAP leaders Kejriwal and Sisodia, Atishi is poised to play a significant role in the future direction of the Delhi assembly.

Atishi made history on September 17 last year by becoming the youngest Chief Minister of Delhi, following Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation after he received bail related to a corruption case tied to the now-abolished 2021-22 liquor policy. She is the city-state’s third female Chief Minister, following in the footsteps of Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit.

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Actively involved with AAP since 2013, Atishi is a member of the Political Affairs Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body. Before becoming Chief Minister, she held multiple portfolios, including Minister of Education, Public Works Department, Culture, and Tourism in the Delhi government.

From July 2015 to April 17, 2018, she served as an advisor to former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, focusing primarily on education and significantly contributing to the improvement of government-run schools in the capital. Atishi was later appointed as a Cabinet Minister alongside Saurabh Bharadwaj after the resignations of Sisodia and Health Minister Satyender Jain.

Although she ran for the Lok Sabha from East Delhi in 2019, Atishi came in third, losing to BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir by a substantial margin of 477,000 votes. However, she rebounded in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, securing her position as a first-time MLA by defeating BJP’s Dharambir Singh by a notable margin of 11,422 votes. Following this, she took charge of AAP’s operations in Goa and managed the Mohalla Sabha Project for the Delhi government.

Born to Delhi University academics Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, Atishi found herself at the center of an unexpected controversy in 2018 concerning her surname. Ahead of the 2019 general elections, she discarded ‘Marlena,’ a name given by her parents, to streamline her identity. Her party has explained that the name is a combination of Marx and Lenin.

A well-educated individual, Atishi grew up in Delhi, attending Springdales School before graduating in history from the esteemed St Stephen’s College. She then earned her master’s degree in history from the University of Oxford on a Chevening scholarship, later studying as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford.

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National

Pickup Vehicle Crashes Into Divider, Two Killed Including Child

Published

1 hour ago

March 5, 2026

Namma Kudla

Uttar Pradesh: A tragic road accident took place in Uttar Pradesh when a pickup vehicle lost control and crashed into a road divider.

The driver and a three-year-old girl died on the spot due to the impact of the crash. Nine passengers who were travelling in the vehicle sustained injuries. They were rushed to the district hospital for treatment.

Reports said the victims were travelling to their native village to celebrate the Holi festival. A video showing the horrifying scene of the accident has gone viral on social media.

Preliminary reports suggest that overspeeding may have led to the accident. Police have started an investigation into the incident.

National

Five from Karnataka Killed in Car–Container Collision in Andhra Pradesh

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Namma Kudla

Andhra Pradesh: Five people from Karnataka were killed on the spot after the car they were travelling in rammed into a container truck from behind in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district on Tuesday.

The accident occurred near Gangavaram in Palamaneru while the victims were on their way to Tirupati temple from Bengaluru. According to police, the car crashed into the rear of a container vehicle with great force, leaving the vehicle completely mangled.

The deceased have been identified as Mohandas (71), Nagaraj (61), Kusuma (61), Jayanti (59), and Pooja (33). All of them were residents of Rajajinagar in Bengaluru.

Preliminary reports suggest that the impact of the collision was so severe that all five occupants died at the scene. Police have registered a case at the Palamaneru police station and further investigation is underway.

More details are awaited.

National

Woman Kills Ex-Lover Over Blackmail in Ballia

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Namma Kudla

Uttar Pradesh: A married woman allegedly killed her former lover in Ballia after he blackmailed her with private videos, police said.

According to police, the victim was identified as Pankaj Gupta, a resident of Azamgarh. He was reportedly in a relationship with the woman from a nearby village.

Police said the woman wanted to end the relationship. However, Gupta allegedly began blackmailing her using obscene videos and harassed her repeatedly.

Unable to bear the threats, the woman informed her brother and sister-in-law. The trio allegedly planned the murder during a wedding function on February 5.

On February 7, they allegedly called Gupta to the village on a pretext. He was strangled to death, police said. The accused then poured acid on his face to hide his identity and tried to destroy evidence.

An unidentified body with a disfigured face was found on February 10. The crime was later solved during the investigation.

Police have arrested three accused, including the woman, and sent them to judicial custody. Efforts are on to arrest other suspects involved in the case.