Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Journalist, activist, politician, founding member of the Aam Padmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal's right-hand man – are some of the many caps donned by Manish Sisodia, who took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi on Sunday, 16 February at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan.
Sisodia, known as Kejriwal's close confidante, has come a long way to emerge as a prominent figure in Delhi's political landscape. He is credited with spearheading the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) education agenda. Sisodia doubled the budgetary allocation to education, amounting to nearly 25 percent of the entire budget of Delhi.
The Scribe
Sisodia started his career as a journalist in 1993 and worked in Zee News and All India Radio for eight years.
The Activist
In 2005, Sisodia quit journalism for the Right to Information movement and helped draft the Right to Information Act. He was a prominent figure in the movement since his India Against Corruption (IAC) days.
The Neta
When Aam Aadmi Party was founded on 26 November 2012, Sisodia became a member of AAP's political affairs committee.
On 8 December 2013, he was elected as the MLA from East Delhi's Patparganj, winning by over 11,000 votes.
On 10 February 2015, AAP swept Delhi winning 67 out of 70 seats. Sisodia was re-elected as the MLA from Patparganj.
He held the Education, Finance, Planning Land and Building, Vigilance, Services and Women and Child Development portfolios in his previous tenure.
Changed the Face of Delhi’s Government Schools
As education minister, Sisodia reformed the state of education in Delhi.
- Over 8000 additional classrooms were built in 30 schools
- New subjects like IT, financial markets were added to the syllabus
- Budget allocated for education was doubled
The infrastructural transformation of Delhi’s government schools, the launching a series of curricula like the happiness curriculum, entrepreneurship curriculum and the latest being the 'Desh Bhakti Curriculum', the introduction of 'Mission Buniyaad' for improving learning skills of children studying in state- and municipal-run schools, sending teachers and principals abroad for training, were among the key initiatives taken by him.
He authored Shiksha and was awarded the Champions of Change award in 2019.
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