Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal is a prominent politician and a former bureaucrat who has been served as the Chief Minister of Delhi from 2015 to 2024. He was born on 16th August 1968 in a remote village in Haryana to Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi.





As a bright student from childhood, Arvind cleared the test on his first attempt and joined IIT Kharagpur in West Bengal, choosing mechanical engineering as his stream. After completing his degree, he secured a job in Tata Steels, but soon he left the job for preparing civil service examination attending his true calling from heart. He also had the opportunity to work with Mother Teresa at her Kalighat Ashram for two months. He cleared the civil service examination in 1993 and joined the Indian Revenue Service as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi. He married his 1993 IRS batchmate Sunita in 1995 and was blessed with two children with her.





His social life bloomed when he founded a movement called Parivartan in 1999 to expose fake ration card scams and assisted the citizens of Delhi in matters related to income tax, electricity, and food rations.





In 2006, Kejriwal received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership for his active participation in the grassroots movement Parivartan, where he utilised right-to-information laws to combat corruption. In 2006, to focus more on a social cause, he resigned from his job and established the Public Cause Research Foundation. He contributed his Magsaysay award-winning as an initial fund to establish that NGO.





Kejriwal rose to popularity in 2010 when he associated himself with the prominent social activist Anna Hazare and others in the early 2010s while campaigning for the passing of the Jan Lokpal bill. Following differences with Anna Hazare regarding whether or not to politicise the popular India Against Corruption movement, he established his political party called Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and contested in the 2013 Delhi assembly elections, and they won 28 out of 70 seats. With conditional support from the Indian National Congress, he formed the government and was sworn in as chief minister of Delhi. But in 49 days, he resigned citing his failure to table Jan Lokapal. Following over a year of President’s rule in the national capital.





He contested in the 16th Lok Sabha election from Varanasi with presidential rule prevailing in Delhi against the BJP prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi but lost.





His party again contested in the 2015 Delhi assembly election received 67 seats out of 70 seats, and formed the government. He again took charge as the 7th chief minister of Delhi.





His administration has primarily focused on improving the education and healthcare domains. In an attempt to reduce the cost of daily commuting, he endeavoured to provide free metro rides for women, but this initiative proved unsuccessful. Consequently, the Delhi government implemented free DTC bus travel for women.





With his unique political views and zeal for public service, Kejriwal stands tall in Indian Politics.





Arvind Kejriwal’s government became the focus of a major controversy when it introduced an excise policy aimed at reforming the liquor business in Delhi. However, allegations of irregularities soon emerged, leading the former Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, to call for an investigation. Authorities, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), suspected that the policy allowed for inflated profit margins and was possibly being used to funnel illegal funds into Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) election campaigns.





As events unfolded, Kejriwal found himself drawn into the controversy, becoming the third key party figure, after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, to face legal scrutiny. Kejriwal repeatedly ignored summonses from the ED, which only increased attention on the issue and triggered further legal actions.





In October 2023, the ED sent its first summons to Kejriwal regarding the liquor policy scam. By November, he had already skipped the first summons, choosing instead to fly to Singrauli for a political rally. Over the next months, Kejriwal continued to miss several summonses, even as he alleged a conspiracy by the Central government.





In January 2024, Kejriwal questioned why he wasn’t an official accused in the case despite repeated calls from the ED. By February, the ED sought court intervention, claiming Kejriwal was avoiding cooperation. The courts initially granted him exemptions but, as he skipped more summonses, legal pressure mounted.





By March 2024, a sessions court granted him bail, only for the Delhi High Court to deny any protection from coercive action shortly afterward. Kejriwal then sought relief from the Supreme Court, but was eventually arrested by the ED after missing nine summonses. The arrest caused a political stir, with his party quickly seeking legal measures to quash the arrest.





On May 10, 2024, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail until June 1, allowing him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. However, the court ruled that he would need to surrender on June 2. After surrendering, Kejriwal's request for interim bail on medical grounds was denied on June 5. Eventually, on June 20, a Delhi court granted him regular bail, but the ED opposed his release. The Delhi High Court blocked his bail, extending his legal battles.





Finally, on 13th September 2024, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal bail. Just two days after his release from prison, he announced that he plans to resign as Chief Minister within the next 48 hours and he submitted his resignation to Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena on September 17, 2024.