Manish Sisodia


Manish Sisodia is an Indian politician who has been the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. He is also an elected MLA from Patparganj constituency and holds the Education, Finance, Planning, Tourism, Land & Building, Women & Child, Art, Culture & Languages portfolios in the Government of NCT of Delhi. Previously, he was briefly a cabinet minister in the Government of Delhi between late December 2013 and February 2014, when he had responsibility for education, PWD, urban development, local bodies and land and building. Prior to being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Delhi in December 2013, Sisodia was a social activist and journalist as well as a member of the National Executive Committee of the Aam Aadmi Party, and has been an active member since the inception of the AAP.

Early life and career

The son of a teacher, Sisodia commenced his career as a journalist after completing a diploma in the subject, awarded by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1993. He hosted a program called "Zero Hour" for All India Radio in 1996 and then worked for Zee News as a news producer and reader between 1997–2005.

Activism

Sisodia's first brush with activism came with the non-governmental organisation, Kabir, and then with another NGO, Parivartan, which campaigned for the right to information. He was one of nine people selected by Aruna Roy to help draft the Right to Information Act.
Along with Kejriwal and Abhinandan Sekhri, Sisodia was a founder of the Public Cause Research Foundation in 2006. He was also a key figure in Kabir, another NGO. Later, he became an early participant in the popular movement of 2011 that sought a Jan Lokpal bill. He was involved in drafting the first version of that proposed legislation and was jailed for his involvement in protests.
Manish Sisodia is accused of spreading fake news on Twitter related to violence near Jamia Millia Islamia during CAA protests. Delhi Court rejects to give clean chit in above mentioned matter

Political career

Following the creation of the Aam Aadmi Party in late 2012, Sisodia became a member of its Political Affairs Committee. He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the December 2013 Delhi Assembly election, when he defeated Nakul Bhardwaj, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, by 11,478 votes in the Patparganj constituency of East Delhi. In the February 2015 Delhi Assembly election, which resulted in a landslide victory for AAP, he was again elected from Patparganj, defeating Vinod Kumar Binny of the Bharatiya Janata Party by over 24,000 votes. In 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, he again defeated Ravinder Singh Negi, a BJP candidate by over 3000 votes.

Awards and recognition