New Delhi: Manish Sisodia, who holds the number two position in the Delhi government as well as its purse strings, took oath as a minister in the new Arvind Kejriwal-led cabinet for the third time.
Sisodia (48) is known to be Kejriwal's close confidant and has come a long way to emerge as a prominent figure in Delhi's political landscape. He is also credited with spearheading the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) education agenda.
After the swearing-in ceremony, the AAP leader took to Twitter to thank those who contributed funds for his election campaign.
"Today as I restart my journey as minister in @ArvindKejriwal cabinet, I would also like to thank all the people who contributed funds for my election in patparganj. Total 28 lakh was contributed online within 48 hrs," he said.
The journalist-turned-activist-turned-politician held the Education, Finance, Planning Land and Building, Vigilance, Services and Women and Child Development portfolios in the previous tenure. He also served as deputy chief minister in the previous government.
The infrastructural transformation of Delhi government schools, launching a series of curricula like the happiness curriculum, entrepreneurship curriculum and the latest being the 'deshbhakti curriculum', 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 Sisodia.
The happiness curriculum has also attracted the interest of other states as well as the dignitaries abroad, who visited the Delhi government schools to attend the 'happiness classes' and are exploring to replicate the model.
Born in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district to a teacher, Sisodia doubled the budgetary allocation to education amounting to nearly 25 per cent of the entire budget of Delhi.
An avid follower of Gandhian principles, Sisodia started his career as a journalist after attaining a diploma in journalism, but he was more attracted to social work. He first formed NGO Kabir and then Parivartan, along with Kejriwal.
"Not sure if I'm a politician, activist, reader, writer, journalist or.... but I'm an Indian. I like Gandhi because he always moved ahead of his own identity," states his
Twitter profile.
Sisodia later quit journalism to participate in the agitation for Right To Information. Like Kejriwal, he too pitched in drafting the nuances of the Right to Information Act and was a prominent figure in the movement since the India Against Corruption (IAC) days.
He was one of the founding members of the Janlokpal agitation and part of the team which chalked out its first draft. He was arrested and sent to jail during the agitation along with activist Anna Hazare.
Sisodia is also one of the founder members of AAP and a member of the party's all powerful Political Affairs Committee (PAC).
A three-time legislator, Sisodia won from Patparganj constituency after defeating BJP candidate Ravinder Singh Negi.
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