Arvind Kejriwal is a former anti-corruption activist turned politician who currently serves as Delhi’s seventh Chief Minister. He currently serves as National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a political party founded in November 2012. Kejriwal was a social activist long before he entered politics, and his primary motivation for doing so was to serve the country. As a teenager, he struggled to decide between careers in medicine and engineering. He eventually chose to study engineering and set his sights on admission to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Refusing to appear for any other college’s entrance exam, he appeared only for the IIT entrance exam—and passed on the first attempt. As a student, he discovered that his passion was not for profit, but for service to his country. He began his career with the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and developed an interest in social activism. He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership for his involvement in the ‘Parivartan’ movement. He later joined Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption (IAC) movement and founded the Aam Aadmi Party. He was appointed Delhi’s Chief Minister in December 2013 but resigned after only 49 days.
Childhood & Adolescence
He was born in Siwani, Haryana, on 16 August 1968, the eldest child of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. He has two younger brothers and sisters. His father was an electrical engineer, and the family relocated frequently as a result of his employment. His mother was a well-educated woman in her time, and she instilled a strong work ethic in her children.
Arvind was educated at Campus School in Hisar before attending Sonipat’s Christian missionary school. He was a recluse and a voracious reader. Additionally, he was a religious and spiritually inclined adolescent.
As a bright student in school, he struggled with deciding on a career path. He initially desired a career in medicine but changed his mind and chose engineering instead. When he discovered that the Indian Institute of Technology was the best institution for engineering studies, he set his sights on gaining admission to the prestigious institution.
He appeared for the examination and passed on the first attempt. As a result, he enrolled at IIT Kharagpur in West Bengal, where he majored in mechanical engineering.
His college experience opened his eyes. While many of his classmates intended to travel abroad following graduation, he chose to remain in India and contribute to his country.
He received job offers from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and the Gas Authority of India, but he was set on joining Tata Steel, a company that had previously rejected him during the interview process.
Kejriwal followed up with a call to the company’s headquarters, requesting another interview. He was chosen this time.
Career of Arvind
He was assigned as assistant manager in Jamshedpur in 1989 after completing a training program at Tata Steel.
Despite being hired by his dream company, he was dissatisfied with his job; in fact, he found it quite dull.
He decided to continue his education and applied to a prestigious management institute but was rejected. He then decided to study for the Civil Service Examination on the advice of a friend.
By 1992, he had recognized his true calling as one of service to society and had resigned from his lucrative job while awaiting the results of the Civil Service Examination.
Meanwhile, he met Mother Teresa and spent two months working at her Kalighat Ashram. He then joined the Christian Brothers Association and assisted Ramakrishna Missions with village work. Additionally, he worked with a government organization called Nehru Yuva Kendra to conduct outreach in rural areas (Nehru Youth Center).
He joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 1995 after passing all rounds of the Civil Service Examination.
However, he was disillusioned with his job once more. Exposed to rampant corruption from the start, he quickly realized that this was not the government service he had imagined.
In 1999, while working for the Income Tax Department, he helped found a movement called Parivartan. This movement exposed a fake ration card scam and aided Delhi’s citizens with income tax, electricity, and food rations.
He resigned from his position as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi in 2006 to devote his time to social causes. A few months later, he founded the Public Cause Research.
Kejriwal gained popularity in the early 2010s when he teamed up with prominent social activist Anna Haraze to campaign for the passage of the Jan Lokpal bill. He later broke away from Team Anna and founded his own political party, the Aam Aadmi Party, in 2012, along with his supporters.
He quickly gained popularity among the Indian populace for his anti-corruption crusade and defeated Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. On 28 December 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Minister.
The citizens of Delhi had high expectations of him, but he resigned after only 49 days in office on 14 February 2014, after determining that the Jan Lokpal Bill could not be passed with his party’s current strength.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAP) defeated the BJP (the ruling party at the center) in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections on February 10, 2015. The AAP won 67 of the assembly’s 70 seats, leaving the mighty BJP with just three.
Arvind became Delhi’s Chief Minister on February 14, 2015, when his Aam Admi Party (AAP) formed the Delhi government.
Significant Works of Arvind
He was a key figure in the Jan Lokpal movement, which compelled the then-current Central government to introduce the Lokpal Bill in parliament.
He is the National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which he founded in November 2012 with the primary objective of combating corruption and increasing government transparency. Additionally, he served as Delhi’s Chief Minister from 28 December 2013 to 14 February 2014.
Awards and Accomplishments
In 2005, IIT Kanpur presented him with the Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award for his campaign to increase governance transparency.
In 2006, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership for his work with the Parivartan movement. He used his award money as a corpus fund to establish the non-governmental organization Public Cause Research Foundation.
Personal History and Legacies
In 1994, he married Sunita, a classmate from the National Academy of Administration. They are the parents of two children.
Top Ten Arvind Kejriwal Facts You Didn’t Know
He enjoys watching Hindi films and is a huge fan of Aamir Khan. Arvind Kejriwal passed the IIT-JEE examination in the first attempt. Additionally, he passed the Civil Services exam on his first attempt.
He never demonstrated an interest in politics during his college years, preferring instead to participate actively in theatre.
He does not observe his own or his two children’s birthdays. He is a regular practitioner of the Vipassana meditation technique.
Kejriwal is the city’s youngest chief minister since it became a Union Territory (UT) in 1956. He became chief minister at the age of 45. However, Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, who served as Delhi’s chief minister from 1952 to 1955, before the city became a union territory, was 34 years old at the time of his inauguration.
He is the author of the 2012 book ‘Swaraj.’ According to his colleagues, he sleeps very little, barely four hours per day.
Kejriwal graduated from IIT Kharagpur in 1989, the same year the institution welcomed Google’s new CEO Sundar Pichai.
He refused the services of a peon at his place of employment while working as an IRS officer. He was accustomed to cleaning his own desk.
Estimated Net Worth
The estimated net worth of Arvind is $0.5 million.