Atishi, AAP's possible Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi, dropped her last name "Marlena" for electoral purposes. But she is not the only one from the party. AAP's Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar too had removed his last name "Deshmukh" in the 2015 Assembly poll.
The move to drop Atishi's last name, party insiders say, comes in the backdrop of the opposition dubbing it as a "Christian name". Sources said AAP was concerned that the BJP was targeting her, telling voters that she is Christian.
In his election affidavit, the Jangpura legislator had mentioned his name as Praveen Kumar. The same name also reflected on electronic voting machines during 2015 polls.
Party insiders said it was a conscious decision to drop Deshmukh, a surname used mainly by people in Maharashtra, as Praveen Kumar was contesting from a Sikh-dominated area. In 2013, Maninder Singh Dhir, a Sikh, had won from the seat.
Mr Kumar, however, denied this.
"My surname still remains Deshmukh. I use my name as Praveen Kumar. That is the one on my voter card," he said.
The 34-year-old Jangpura legislator, an old party hand, joined the anti-graft movement spearheaded by Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues after quitting his job as a regional manager in an IT company. He first entered the electoral fray in 2015.
Prior to his electoral plunge, Mr Kumar was an organisation man, who was the East Delhi in-charge in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He later formed frontal organisations that proved to be crucial in the party's 2015 stupendous win.
