Who is Arvind Kejriwal – The Third Time Delhi CM from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal

Who formed the Aam Aadmi Party?

Arvind Kejriwal is a Haryana-born social activist who started a party under the name ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ (literally, common man’s party) in November 2012. It was AAP’s first attempt to participate in the Delhi assembly polls on December 4, 2013. In spite of the party being so new, it had tremendous support from the common man. AAP has built its reputation as a political party that has high relevance for the common folk. No wonder, they won the Delhi Assembly Election 2020 with a landslide victory.

The main objective of the party is to tackle issues related to corruption and ineffective governance in India. Not only this, on social networking sites Kejriwal is among the five most mentioned Indian politicians.

Arvind Kejriwal was nominated by the Aam Aadmi Party as their Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi when they won the Delhi Election for the first time in 2013. The party gave assurance of clearing the Lokpal Bill once they formed a government in the capital but Lokpal has taken a backseat.

Who is Arvind Kejriwal?

Arvind Kejriwal is an IIT graduate who worked in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 1995 and resigned from the post after five years to start an organization Parivartan in December 1999.  This was due to his belief in “Change begins with small things”, and had an objective to help the citizens in matters related to income tax, electricity and food ration in various parts of Delhi. He was also a former Joint Commissioner in the Income Tax Department.

Arvind Kejriwal wrote the book Swaraj, that was published in 2012. He is very passionate and determined to handle the issue of corruption in India. He played a prominent role in drafting the Jan Lokpal bill. The Right to Information Act (RTI) was brought and implemented at the grassroots level under his leadership. The RTI has been used extensively by him in corruption cases in government departments, like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Income Tax department, the Electricity Board, etc.

Arvind Kejriwal was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006. The award has been given to him for his efforts for the enactment of the Right to Information Act, and for empowering the poorest citizens of India. He then resigned from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and donated the whole money to form an NGO called Public Cause Research Foundation.

When the Government of India formed a committee for drafting a Lokpal Bill, Kejriwal was the civil society representative of the committee. Anna Hazare, who started the Jan Lokpal movement, also owes a lot to Kejriwal. The latter also went to jail for the cause.

Kejriwal has won many accolades and awards, like Ashoka Fellow for civil engagement in 2004, Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Eminent Leadership in 2009, NDTV Indian of the Year (along with Anna Hazare) in 2011.

Arvind Kejriwal seems to be a tough contestant in the fight to become the Prime Minister of India in his future years. What is your opinion on this?

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