Sunita Kejriwal
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Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician,
activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th
Chief Minister of Delhi The chief minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the head of government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. According to the Constitution of India, the lieutenant governor is the National Capital Territory of Delhi's ''de ...
. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national
convener The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...
of the
Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...
(AAP) since 2012. He represented the New Delhi constituency in the
Delhi Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists ...
from 2015 to 2025, and previously from 2013 to 2014. In 2006, Kejriwal was awarded the
Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...
for his involvement in the ''
Parivartan Parivartan (''Transformation'') is a grass-roots activism organization based in the Sundar Nagari area of New Delhi, India. During the 2000s, Parivartan used Right to Information (RTI) to address citizens' grievances related to Public Distribu ...
'' movement using right to information legislation in a campaign against government corruption. The same year, after resigning from government service, he founded the
Public Cause Research Foundation Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF) was a Delhi, India-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that campaigned for just, transparent, accountable and participatory governance. History Public Cause Research Foundation was established on 19 D ...
to campaign for transparent governance. Before entering politics, Kejriwal had worked in the
Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...
. Prior to that, he was a mechanical engineer from
IIT Kharagpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur or IIT-KGP) is a public institute of technology, research university, and autonomous institute established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal. Founded in 1951, the in ...
. In 2012, he launched the AAP. In 2013, he assumed office as the Chief Minister of Delhi and resigned 49 days later over his inability to mobilise support for his proposed anti-corruption legislation. In the
2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election The Delhi Legislative Assembly election was held on 7 February 2015 to elect 70 members of the Sixth Legislative Assembly of Delhi. The results were announced on 10 February 2015. The Aam Aadmi Party secured an absolute majority in the assembly, ...
s, the AAP registered an unprecedented majority. In subsequent
2020 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...
, AAP re-emerged victorious and retained power in Delhi, following which, Kejriwal was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time in a row. Outside Delhi, his party registered another major victory in
2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Elections in Punjab, India, Punjab on 2022 elections in India, 20 February 2022 to elect the List of constituencies of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, 117 members of the Sixteenth Punjab Legislative ...
. He was
arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...
on 21 March 2024 by the
Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...
on allegations of a liquor scam against the Aam Aadmi Party led Delhi Government. He became the first ever sitting chief minister in India to be arrested. His other party leaders, Satyendra Jain, Sanjay Singh and
Manish Sisodia Manish Sisodia (born 5 January 1972) is an Indian politician, journalist and former social activist who served as the first Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi from 2015 to 2023. He represented the Patparganj Assembly constituency, Patparganj const ...
have also spent months to years in jail without bail, trial or conviction. The opposition alliance called the arrest weeks before the
2024 Indian general election General elections were held in Elections in India, India from 2024 elections in India, 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the res ...
, a case of fabrication and "
match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
" by the BJP.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
said that financial and terrorism laws have been weaponised to go after political opponents. On 10 May, the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
ordered Kejriwal's release on interim bail until 1 June 2024, on account of campaigning for the election. Kejriwal surrendered at
Tihar Jail Tihar Prisons, popularly known as Tihar Jail, are a prison complex in India and are one of the largest complexes of prisons in India. There are 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, the prison ...
after the expiry of his bail period on 2 June 2024. On 13 September 2024, he was granted bail by Supreme Court with certain conditions, the case still continues. On 17 September 2024, he resigned as Delhi Chief Minister saying he will only become CM again if he receives a public mandate. His party was defeated in the
2025 Delhi Legislative Assembly election The 2025 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections were held in Delhi on 5 February 2025 to elect all 70 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes and declaration of results took place on 8 February 2025. The Bharatiya Janata ...
, losing his seat to
Parvesh Verma Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma () was born on 7 November 1977 in Mundka, Delhi. He is an Indian politician and the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi since 20 February 2025 and is a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly from the New Delhi Assembly ...
by a margin of over 4,000 votes from the
New Delhi Assembly constituency New Delhi Assembly constituency, earlier known as New Delhi Constituency, is one of the seventy Delhi assembly constituencies of Delhi in northern India. New Delhi assembly constituency is a part of New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. This con ...
.


Early life and education

Kejriwal was born in a
Haryanvi Haryanvi (हरियाणवी or हरयाणवी) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Indian state of Haryana and the territory of Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which a ...
Agrawal Agrawal (Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal'', ''Agarawala'', or Aggrawal) is a Bania caste. The Banias of northern India are a cluster of several communities, of which the Agrawal Banias, Maheshwari Banias, Osw ...
- Baniya family in
Siwani Siwani is a town and a municipality located approx. 58 km from Bhiwani city in Bhiwani district in the north Indian States and territories of India, state of Haryana. It is the administrative headquarters of Siwani tehsil. Demographics As ...
in the
Bhiwani district Bhiwani district is one of the 22 Districts of Haryana, districts of the northern Indian state of Haryana. Created on 22 December 1972, it was the largest district of the state by area, before the creation of Charkhi Dadri district, Charkhi Dadr ...
of
Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...
, India on 16 August 1968, the first of the three children of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. His father was an electrical engineer who graduated from the
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (BIT, Mesra) is a government funded technical institute (GFTI) situated at Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. It was declared as a deemed university under Section 3 of the UGC Act. The institute was included under ...
. Kejriwal spent most of his childhood in north Indian towns such as
Sonipat Sonipat is a planned industrial city and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigar ...
,
Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in Western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziaba ...
and
Hisar Hissar () means fort or castle in Arabic, with variants adopted into Persian (hesar, hessar) and Turkish (hisar). Hissar, Hisar and Hesar may refer to: Places Asia (South and Central) India *Hisar (city), a city in Haryana **Hisar Airport in Hi ...
. He was educated at Campus School in Hisar and at Holy Child School at
Sonipat Sonipat is a planned industrial city and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigar ...
. In 1985, he took the IIT-JEE exam and secured All India Rank (AIR) of 563. He graduated from
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur or IIT-KGP) is a public institute of technology, research university, and autonomous institute established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal. Founded in 1951, the in ...
, majoring in mechanical engineering. He joined
Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...
in 1989 and was posted in
Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...
,
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
(now in
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
). Kejriwal resigned in 1992, having taken leave of absence to study for the
Civil Services Examination The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a standardized test in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of India, civil services in the Government of India, such as the All India Service ...
. He spent some time in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
(present-day Kolkata), where he met
Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...
, and volunteered with The
Missionaries of Charity The Missionaries of Charity () is a Catholic centralised religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women established in 1950 by Mother Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. , it consisted o ...
and at the
Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a spiritual and philanthropic organisation headquartered in Belur Math, West Bengal. The mission is named after the Indian Hindu spiritual guru and mystic Ramakrishna. The mission was founde ...
in
North-East India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...
and at Nehru Yuva Kendra.


Career

Arvind Kejriwal joined the
Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...
(IRS) as an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax in 1995, after qualifying through the
Civil Services Examination The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a standardized test in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of India, civil services in the Government of India, such as the All India Service ...
. In February 2006, he resigned from his position as Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi. In 2012, Arvind Kejriwal founded the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) to fight corruption and improve governance. The party made its mark in the 2013 Legislative Assembly election, but his first government lasted only 49 days. In 2015, Kejriwal returned with a decisive victory, focusing on
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
,
healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
, and
welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...
. He was re-elected in 2020, further cementing his leadership in Delhi. Since 2012, he has acted as the main national convenor of AAP.


Activism


Parivartan and Kabir

In December 1999, while still in service with the Income Tax Department, Kejriwal,
Manish Sisodia Manish Sisodia (born 5 January 1972) is an Indian politician, journalist and former social activist who served as the first Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi from 2015 to 2023. He represented the Patparganj Assembly constituency, Patparganj const ...
and others founded a movement named
Parivartan Parivartan (''Transformation'') is a grass-roots activism organization based in the Sundar Nagari area of New Delhi, India. During the 2000s, Parivartan used Right to Information (RTI) to address citizens' grievances related to Public Distribu ...
(which means "change"), in the Sundar Nagar area of Delhi. A month later, in January 2000, Kejriwal took a sabbatical from work to focus on Parivartan. Parivartan addressed citizens' grievances related to
Public Distribution System The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a food security system that was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsid ...
(PDS), public works, social welfare schemes, income tax and electricity. It was not a registered
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
- it ran on individual donations, and was characterised as a ''jan andolan'' ("people's movement") by its members. Later, in 2005, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia launched Kabir, a registered NGO named after the medieval philosopher
Kabir Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...
. Like Parivartan, Kabir was also focused on RTI and participatory governance. However, unlike Parivartan, it accepted institutional donations. According to Kejriwal, Kabir was mainly run by Sisodia. In 2000, Parivartan filed a
public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). It refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability ...
(PIL) demanding transparency in public dealings of the Income Tax department, and also organised a
satyagraha Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is ...
outside the Chief Commissioner's office. Kejriwal and other activists also stationed themselves outside the electricity department, asking visitors not to pay bribes and offered to help them in getting work done for free. In 2001, the Delhi government enacted a state-level Right To Information (RTI) Act, which allowed the citizens to access government records for a small fee. Parivartan used RTI to help people get their work done in government departments without paying a bribe. In 2002, the group obtained official reports on 68 public works projects in the area, and performed a community-led audit to expose misappropriations worth 7 million in 64 of the projects. On 14 December 2002, Parivartan organised a ''Jan sunvai'' (public hearing), in which the citizens held public officials and leaders accountable for the lack of development in their locality. In 2003 (and again in 2008), Parivartan exposed a PDS scam, in which
ration shop The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a food security system that was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsidi ...
dealers were siphoning off subsidised foodgrains in collusion with civic officials. In 2004, Parivartan used RTI applications to access communication between government agencies and the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
, regarding a project for privatisation of water supply. Kejriwal and other activists questioned the huge expenditure on the project and argued that it would hike water tariffs ten-fold, thus effectively cutting off the water supply to the city's poor. The project was stalled as a result of Parivartan's activism. Another campaign by Parivartan led to a court order that required private schools, which had received public land at discounted prices, to admit more than 700 poor kids without a fee. Along with other social activists like
Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. He was awarded the Padma Bhu ...
,
Aruna Roy Aruna Roy (née Jayaram, born 26 may 1946) is an Indian social activist, professor, union organiser and retired IAS officer. She was the president of the National Federation of Indian Women and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. ...
and Shekhar Singh, Kejriwal came to be recognised as an important contributor to the campaign for a national-level
Right to Information Act Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theor ...
(enacted in 2005). He resigned from his job in February 2006, and later that year, he was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, for his involvement with Parivartan. The award recognised him for activating the RTI movement at the grassroots and empowering New Delhi's poor citizens to fight corruption. By 2012, Parivartan was largely inactive. Sundar Nagri, where the movement was concentrated, suffered from irregular water supply, unreliable PDS system and poorly done public works. Calling it "ephemeral and delusionary in nature", Kejriwal noted that Parivartan's success was limited, and the changes brought by it did not last long.


Public Cause Research Foundation

In December 2006, Kejriwal established the Public Cause Research Foundation in December 2006, together with
Manish Sisodia Manish Sisodia (born 5 January 1972) is an Indian politician, journalist and former social activist who served as the first Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi from 2015 to 2023. He represented the Patparganj Assembly constituency, Patparganj const ...
and Abhinandan Sekhri. He donated his Ramon Magsaysay Award prize money as a seed fund. Besides the three founders,
Prashant Bhushan Prashant Bhushan (born 15 October 1956) is an Indian author and a public interest lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He was a member of the faction of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement known as Team Anna which supported Anna Ha ...
and
Kiran Bedi Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is a former tennis player who became the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972 and was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 Februa ...
served as the Foundation's trustees. This new body paid the employees of Parivartan. Kejriwal used the RTI Act in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax Department, the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD; ISO: ''Dillī Nagara Nigama'') is the municipal corporation that governs most of Delhi, India. The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to a population of about 20 ...
, the
Public Distribution System The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a food security system that was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsid ...
and the Delhi Electricity Board.


Jan Lokpal movement

In 2010, Kejriwal protested against corruption in the
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
. He argued that the
Central Vigilance Commission Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, free ...
(CVC) did not have any powers to take any action against the guilty, while CBI was incapable of launching an unbiased investigation against the ministers who controlled it. He advocated appointment of public
ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...
- Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states. In 2011, Kejriwal joined several other activists, including
Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. He was awarded the Padma Bhu ...
and
Kiran Bedi Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is a former tennis player who became the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972 and was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 Februa ...
, to form the
India Against Corruption India Against Corruption (IAC) is a non-political anti-corruption movement in India since 2007 which rose to prominence during the anti-corruption protests of 2011. Divisions among personalities on IAC's platform eventually led to the formation ...
(IAC) group. The IAC demanded enactment of the
Jan Lokpal Bill The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to as the Citizen's Ombudsman Bill, was a bill drawn up by civil society activists in India seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body to investigate corruption cases and complete the investig ...
, which would result in a strong ombudsman. The campaign evolved into the
2011 Indian anti-corruption movement The Indian anti-corruption movement, popularly known as Anna Andolan, was a series of demonstrations and protests across India that began in 2011 and was intended to establish strong legislation and enforcement against perceived endemic politic ...
. In response to the campaign, the government's advisory body - the
National Advisory Council The National Advisory Council (NAC) was an advisory body set up by the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004 to advise the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh. Sonia Gandhi served as its chairperson for much of the tenur ...
- drafted a Lokpal Bill. However, the NAC's Bill was criticised by Kejriwal and other activists on the grounds that it did not have enough powers to take action against the prime minister, other corrupt officeholders, and the judiciary. The activists also criticised the procedure for the selection of Lokpal, the transparency clauses and the proposal to disallow the Lokpal from taking cognizance of public grievances. Amid continuing protests, the Government constituted a committee to Draft a
Jan Lokpal Bill The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to as the Citizen's Ombudsman Bill, was a bill drawn up by civil society activists in India seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body to investigate corruption cases and complete the investig ...
. Kejriwal was one of the
civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. He was awarded the Padma Bhu ...
organised a
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
. Kejriwal and other activists were arrested for defying a police directive to give a written undertaking that they will not go to JP Park. Kejriwal attacked the government on this and said there was a need for a debate over police power to detain and release people at will. In August 2011, a settlement was reached between the Government and the activists. Besides the government, the Jan Lokpal movement was also criticised by some citizens as 'undemocratic' on the grounds that the ombudsman had powers over elected representatives.
Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...
claimed that the movement was not a people's movement; instead, it was funded by foreigners to influence policymaking in India. She pointed out that the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
had funded the Emergent Leadership category of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, and also donated $397,000 to Kejriwal's
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
Kabir. Both Kejriwal and Ford Foundation termed the allegations as baseless, stating that the donations were made to support the RTI campaigns. Besides, several other Indian organisations had also received grants from the Ford Foundation. Kejriwal also denied the allegations that the movement was a plot against the ruling Congress by the
RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...
, or that it was an upper-caste conspiracy against the
Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...
s. By January 2012, the Government had backtracked on its promise to implement a strong Jan Lokpal, resulting in another series of protests from Kejriwal and his fellow activists. These protests attracted lower participation compared to the 2011 protests. By mid-2012, Kejriwal had replaced Anna Hazare as the face of the remaining protestors. In January 2014, Kejriwal said that he will quit from the government if Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed. In 2015, during the second term of the AAP government in Delhi, the
Jan Lokpal Bill The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to as the Citizen's Ombudsman Bill, was a bill drawn up by civil society activists in India seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body to investigate corruption cases and complete the investig ...
was passed by the assembly awaiting the president's approval.


National Convener of AAP

One of the major criticisms directed at the Jan Lokpal activists was that they had no right to dictate terms to the elected representatives. As a result, Kejriwal and other activists decided to enter politics and contest elections. In November 2012, they formally launched the Aam Aadmi Party; Kejriwal was elected as the party's National Convener. The party name reflects the phrase
Aam Aadmi Aam Aadmi (, ) — literal translation: " ordinary man" (''ām'' meaning ordinary + ''ādmī'' meaning man) — is a Hindustani colloquial expression and the equivalent of "the Average Joe." The Indian National Congress based its 2004 election ...
, or "common man", whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent. The establishment of AAP caused a rift between Kejriwal and Hazare. AAP decided to contest the
2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election The Delhi Legislative Assembly election was held on 4 December 2013, with the result announced on 8 December resulting in formation of the Fifth Legislative Assembly of Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party won a plurality, closely followed by Aa ...
, with Kejriwal contesting against the incumbent Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving chief minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister in Indian history, she served for a period of 15 year ...
. Kejriwal became the fifth most-mentioned Indian politician on social media channels in the run-up to the elections.


Chief Minister of Delhi


First term

In the 2013, Delhi Legislative Assembly elections for all 70 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 31 seats, followed by Aam Aadmi Party with 28 seats. Kejriwal defeated incumbent Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit of the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
(INC), in her constituency of
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
by a margin of 25,864 votes. AAP formed a minority government in the
hung assembly A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an ...
, (claiming support for the action gauged from opinion polls) with outside support from the eight INC MLAs, one Janata Dal MLA and one independent MLA. Kejriwal was sworn in as the second-youngest chief minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013, after
Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Chaudhary Brahm Prakash (16 June 1918 – 11 August 1993) was an Indian politician, the first and youngest ever Chief Minister of Delhi and a freedom fighter who played an important role in the individual Satyagraha Movement launched by Mah ...
who became chief minister at the age of 34. He was in charge of Delhi's home, power, planning, finance, services and vigilance ministries. On 14 February 2014, he resigned as Chief Minister after failing to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly. He recommended the dissolution of the Assembly. Kejriwal blamed the Indian National Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
for stalling the anti-corruption legislation and linked it with the government's decision to register a First Information Report (FIR) against industrialist
Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian billionaire and businessman who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries. As of May 2025, he is the richest person in Asia and The World's Billionaires, 13th richest ...
, chairman and managing director of
Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its businesses include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is the ...
. In April 2014 he said that he had made a mistake by resigning without publicly explaining the rationale behind his decision.


Second term

Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party won 67 of the 70 constituencies in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, leaving the BJP with three seats and the INC with none. In those elections, he was again elected from the New Delhi constituency, defeating
Nupur Sharma Nupur Sharma (born 23 April 1985) is an Indian politician. She was the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until June 2022. She frequently represented BJP on Indian television debates as an official spokesperson. In June 2 ...
by 31,583 votes. He took oath on 14 February 2015 as Delhi's chief minister for a second time at
Ramlila Maidan Ramlila Maidan is a large ground located in New Delhi, India, traditionally used for staging the annual Ramlila. It is used for religious festivals, major political rallies and meetings, and entertainment events. It is located near New Delhi R ...
. Since then his party has passed the Jan Lokpal Bill though with some differences. There has been a long-running dispute between Kejriwal's office and that of the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi during Kejriwal's second term as Chief Minister. Various issues have been involved, relating which office has ultimate responsibility for various aspects of government, including some significant public appointments. Manish Sisodia characterised it as "a battle between the selected and the elected" and indicated after a legal setback that the government was prepared to take the issues to the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...
. Mohalla Clinics that are primary health centres in Delhi was first set up by the Aam Aadmi Party government in 2015, and as of 2018, 187 such clinics have been set up across the state and served more than 2 million residents. The Government has kept a target of setting up 1000 such clinics in the city before 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections. Mohalla Clinics offer a basic package of essential
health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
including medicines, diagnostics, and consultation free of cost. These clinics serve as the first point of contact for the population, offer timely services, and reduce the load of referrals to secondary and tertiary health facilities in the state. Beginning in October 2019, New Delhi began rolling out free bus transit for women on the
Delhi Transport Corporation The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is a public sector passenger road transport corporation that manages bus services in Delhi, India. It was incorporated in November 1971 as a wholly-owned corporation of the Government of India to provide ...
, with women travelling for free when using pink tickets carrying a message from Kejriwal. He has been criticised for his controversial remarks over
Biharis Bihari () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ( Bihari-speaking) ethnolinguistic groups: Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magahis. They are also further divid ...
and "outsiders". Shunglu Committee submitted a report to LG of Delhi raising questions over decisions of Government of Delhi.


Third term

AAP won 62 seats out of 70 in the
2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Delhi on 8 February 2020 to elect 70 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Voters turnout was recorded at 62.82%, a decline of 4.65% from the previous 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, a ...
. He took oath on 16 February 2020 as Delhi's chief minister for a third time at Ramlila Maidan, equalling the record of
Sheila Dikshit Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving chief minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister in Indian history, she served for a period of 15 year ...
. On 21 March 2024, he became the first ever sitting chief minister in India to be arrested and imprisoned. After being released on bail by the Supreme Court, he vowed to resign from the post of chief minister on 15 September 2024 to campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. He resigned formally on 17 September 2024 and AAP named education minister
Atishi Marlena Atishi Marlena, also known mononymously as Atishi, (; born 8 June 1981), is an Indian politician who served as the 8th List of chief ministers of Delhi, Chief Minister of Delhi, the third female in the role, from 2024 to 2025. She belongs to t ...
as his replacement.


COVID-19 Mismanagement

During the COVID-19 pandemic in India in April 2021, Congress accused the Kejriwal government of spending significant amounts on publicity campaigns while failing to augment oxygen storage capacity and set up new oxygen plants in the National Capital Territory over the preceding year. A Central government-appointed committee criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government for using state funds for advertisements that promoted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party, allegedly violating Supreme Court guidelines. In a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query, it was revealed that funds were allocated in December 2020 to establish eight oxygen plants in Delhi, but only one plant was completed. The remaining funds were reportedly diverted to advertising expenditures. During the oxygen crisis in 2021, the central government increased oxygen allocations for Delhi, prompting Kejriwal to publicly thank the central government for providing 730 tons of oxygen. Critics accused Kejriwal of being "criminally liable" for the deaths of several patients in two Delhi hospitals due to oxygen shortages. In July 2022, a Supreme Court-appointed audit panel concluded that the Delhi government had exaggerated its oxygen requirements by four times during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attack by BJP members On 30 March 2022, the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was attacked by a group of BJP supporters during a protest. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the incident was part of a conspiracy to murder Kejriwal. Following the incident, AAP MLA
Saurabh Bhardwaj Saurabh Bharadwaj is an Indian politician from the Aam Aadmi Party, who represented Greater Kailash constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, who was formerly the Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board and Minister of Health, Urban Developmen ...
filed a petition in the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
seeking the constitution of a
Special Investigation Team are Police tactical unit, tactical detective units of Japanese prefectural police forces. Special Investigation Teams are maintained by prefectural police headquarters (PPH) and are trained to handle critical incidents including criminal investi ...
(SIT) to investigate the attack. The petition claimed that the attack appeared to have been carried out with the "tacit complicity" of the Delhi Police. It alleged that the attackers breached the security cordon, damaged property including CCTV cameras, and vandalised the residence while police personnel failed to intervene. On 31 March 2022, eight individuals involved in the attack were arrested. Charges under provisions related to obstructing public servants and damaging public property were filed. The Delhi High Court observed that the security arrangements at the Chief Minister's residence were inadequate to control the crowd and sought a status report from the Delhi Police on their investigation into the incident.


2024 arrest

After skipping nine summons from the
Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...
(ED), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March 2024 by the ED after the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
rejected his anticipatory bail in connection with the Delhi liquor policy money laundering case. This made him the first sitting chief minister of India to be arrested (all others arrested before him had resigned from their post before being arrested). The opposition alliance called it a fabricated case and "
match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
" before the 2024 general elections by the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
led union government. The
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
dismissed Kejriwal's petition against his arrest and all his bail requests. The Supreme Court ultimately granted him interim bail from 10 May 2024 to 1 June 2024 on account of campaigning for the elections. Following the end of his interim bail and failure to extend it on medical grounds, Kejriwal surrendered at Tihar Jail on 2 June. He was then sent to judicial custody until 5 June 2024. A Delhi court denied the plea filed by Kejriwal seeking a seven-day interim bail and extended judicial custody until 19 June and subsequently till 3 July 2024. On 20 June 2024 Kejriwal was granted bail by the trial court on a bail bond of 100,000 INR. However, his bail was put on hold before his release as ED appealed against it in the Delhi Hight Court. Kejriwal was then questioned for 3 days by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and arrested on 26 June 2024 from Tihar Jail in the same case. Subsequently, he was sent to judicial custody till 12 July. On 12 July 2024, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal in money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam. However, he remained in jail due to the CBI arrest made in the previous month. On 5 September 2024, the Supreme court reserved an order on his bail in the CBI case. The reserved order was pronounced by the SC on 13 September 2024, granting him bail and ultimately leading to his release from
Tihar Jail Tihar Prisons, popularly known as Tihar Jail, are a prison complex in India and are one of the largest complexes of prisons in India. There are 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, the prison ...
after five months. However he served in prison for more than 5 months.


Electoral history


Lok Sabha elections


Delhi Legislative Assembly elections


Political views

Kejriwal discussed his views on
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and the state of the Indian
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
in his book ''Swaraj''. He advocates for a
decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...
of government and the involvement of the panchayat in local decisions and budgets. He claims that foreign
multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...
s have too much power in the decision-making process of the central government and that the politicians at the centre are not being held accountable for their actions and inaction after their election.


Personal life

In 1995, Kejriwal married Sunita, a 1993-batch IRS officer. She took voluntary retirement in 2016 as Commissioner of Income Tax in the
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal India's Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) was the first experiment in tribunalization in the history of India. It was set up on 25 January 1941 by virtue of section 5A of the Income Tax Act, 1922. It is second appellate authority under the d ...
. The couple have a daughter and a son. Kejriwal follows
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
. Kejriwal is a vegetarian and has been practising the Vipassanā meditation technique for many years. He is
diabetic Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
. In 2016, he underwent a surgery for his persistent cough problem. Kejriwal considers himself an
Ambedkarite Ambedkarism is called as the teaching, ideology or philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar, an Indian economist, barrister, social reformer, and the first of Minister of Law and Justice in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. Ambedkarism includes specia ...
and calls himself a 'devotee' of
B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...
.


Controversies


COVID-19

In May 2021, Kejriwal called for the India central government to immediately stop air travel between India and Singapore, and develop "vaccine alternatives for children", due to "a new variant of coronavirus found in Singapore" which "is being said to be very dangerous for children". However, the Singapore Health Ministry stated that there was no known Singaporean variant of COVID-19; a recent report discussing the threat of COVID-19 to Singaporean children was discussing a variant of COVID-19 first detected in India: B.1.617. Many of the recent COVID-19 cases in Singapore were of B.1.617. Further, it said “There is no truth whatsoever in the assertions found within the reports”. The foreign minister of India,
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (born 9 January 1955), better known as S. Jaishankar, is an Indian politician and retired diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service, Indian foreign service (IFS) who has held the office of the Minister of External Affairs ...
, and the foreign minister of Singapore,
Vivian Balakrishnan Vivian Balakrishnan (; born 25 January 1961) is a Singaporean politician, diplomat and former ophthalmologist who has been serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2015. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been th ...
, criticised Kejriwal's comment as "irresponsible" and counter-factual respectively. In 2022, the Kejriwal government was accused by a central government panel of inflating the reported oxygen need of Delhi during the second wave of COVID-19 infections.


Lawsuits

Several defamation cases were filed against Arvind Kejriwal by his political opponents. In January 2014, Kejriwal released a list of most corrupt politicians that included several leaders across the political spectrum. Of the several on the list,
Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who serves as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, current ...
immediately filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal. Subsequently, Kejriwal apologised to union minister Nitin Gadkari for his unverified allegations and also sought apology from former minister Kapil Sibal. In 2016, Kejriwal made allegations against Bikram Majithia, the then revenue minister of Punjab of involvement in drug trade for which Majithia filed a defamation case against him and two others from Aam Aadmi party. Kejriwal apologised to Majithia a couple of years later in March 2018. Kejriwal made allegations against finance minister
Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...
for irregularities in DDCA. Arun Jaitley filed a 10-crore defamation suit against Kejriwal. On 2 March 2016, Delhi High Court asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and suspended BJP MP
Kirti Azad Kirtivardhan Bhagwat Jha Azad (; born 2 January 1959) is an Indian politician and former cricketer, who played seven Test matches and 25 One Day International for the India national cricket team between 1980 and 1986. Azad was a member of the ...
to file their written statements in a civil defamation suit of Rs 5 crores filed by DDCA for their alleged remarks against the cricket body regarding its functioning and finances. Following this, in April 2018 Arvind Kejriwal and three others from his party including Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chaddha and Ashutosh apologised to Arun Jaitley in a joint letter. In his affidavit to Election Directorate before the second term elections in 2015 Kejriwal had declared that he has 10 criminal charges and 47 total charges against him. In 2021, a Delhi court dismissed an assault case filed by a Delhi bureaucrat against Kejriwal and ten AAP MLAs and discharged them of all charges. The court noted that "no
prima facie ''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning "at first sight", or "based on first impression". The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine forms of ' ("first") and ' ("face"), both in the a ...
case" was made against them. In February 2024, Kejriwal was involved in a defamation lawsuit and issued an apology to the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...
for retweeting YouTuber
Dhruv Rathee Dhruv Rathee (born 8 October 1994) is an Indian influencer and social media activist based in Berlin, Germany. He is known for his YouTube videos on social, political, and environmental issues. As of June 2025, he has over 36 million subscri ...
's 2018 video on BJP IT Cell. The Delhi high court, in its earlier ruling had stated that sharing "purportedly libelous" content would fall under defamation laws. On 11 March 2025, a Delhi court ordered an FIR against Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly misusing public money on large hoardings


Official residence renovations

In late April 2023, BJP made allegations that Kejriwal had misappropriated public funds for renovations of his residence in Delhi. An investigation was announced on 29 April 2023. CBI said that they started investigating money spent on renovating Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house complex. Its Vigilance Department said it was pursuing misappropriation of funds and financial irregularities.


Media fixing

In March 2014, in a leaked video of an interview with journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai, Kejriwal was seen giving instructions to Bajpai on promoting his interview by comparing his resignation to the sacrifice of
Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...
and dropping a certain portion of interview on privatisation of industries which would portray him anti-middle class. Later, when the interview was telecasted it was found that Punya Prasun Bajpai had actually complied to the instructions and raised questions on his journalistic integrity and ethics. This controversy was called "media fixing" at that time.


Delhi liquor scam

He was arrested on 21 March 2024 by the
Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...
on allegations of a
Delhi liquor scam The Delhi Liquor Scam is an alleged political scandal concerning the Government of Delhi, Delhi Government, which paved its way through the introduction of Delhi's Excise Policy from 2021 to 2022. This policy intended to bring in private firms ...
against Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi Government. He became the first ever incumbent chief minister in India to be arrested while still holding the post. The ED also accused him of spying on their officials. He had skipped nine summons by the Enforcement Directorate as well, before that. The
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's petition against his arrest. He was granted bail by the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
on 20 June 2024. His ministers, Satyendra Jain and
Manish Sisodia Manish Sisodia (born 5 January 1972) is an Indian politician, journalist and former social activist who served as the first Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi from 2015 to 2023. He represented the Patparganj Assembly constituency, Patparganj const ...
have also been in jail without bail, trial or conviction with the exception of a bail to the former once for treatment. Satyendra Jain spent more than two years in jail. Manish Sisodia was granted bail by the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
on 9 August 2024. The opposition alliance called the arrest weeks before the
2024 Indian general election General elections were held in Elections in India, India from 2024 elections in India, 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the res ...
a case of fabrication and "
match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
" by the BJP.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
said that financial and terrorism laws have been weaponised to go after political opponents while the BJP has denied that it had any political agenda to go after Kejriwal. On 20 June 2024, Kejriwal was released on bail after paying bail bond of one
lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...
Indian Rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...
s. His bail was put on hold before release as ED appealed against Kejriwal's bail. On 20 June, he was granted bail but his release was delayed due to an ED appeal. The CBI arrested him on 26 June, extending his custody to 12 July. On 12 July, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail for alleged Delhi liquor policy money laundering case, but he remains in jail in CBI case related to alleged Liquor policy scam. On 5 September 2024, the Supreme court upheld Delhi High Court's order of not granting bail to Kejriwal. On 13 September 2024, Kejriwal was granted bail by Supreme Court while imposing certain restrictions to his office of the Chief Minister.


In the media

''
An Insignificant Man ''An Insignificant Man'' is a 2016 Hindi/English Indian socio-political documentary co-produced and directed by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla and also co-produced by filmmaker Anand Gandhi. and is about the rise of anti-corruption protests in ...
'' is a 2017 Hindi/English Indian socio-political documentary co-produced and directed by Khushboo Ranka and
Vinay Shukla Vinay Shukla is an Indian film writer and director, who is producer of Hindi film Godmother. Profile Vinay Shukla has been an active scriptwriter and director of Hindi films over the last three decades. His most well-known film, Godmother, ...
and also co-produced by filmmaker
Anand Gandhi Anand Gandhi (born Anand Modi, 26 September 1980) is an Indian filmmaker, entrepreneur, media producer, innovator and systems researcher. He is also the founder/CEO of the Mumbai-based new media studio and systems think tank Memesys Culture Lab. ...
. The documentary is about the rise of
anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measur ...
protests in India and the formation and rise to power of the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal has appeared on the talk-shows and interviews of News channels. He spoofed himself on the third episode of the first season of
The Viral Fever The Viral Fever, abbreviated to TVF, is an Indian video on demand and over-the-top media service and YouTube channel started by TVF Media Labs in 2010, and currently owned and operated by Contagious Online Media Network Private Limited. Accord ...
's ''Barely Speaking With Arnub'', where actor
Jitendra Kumar Jitendra Kumar is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi films and web series. Kumar is best recognised for his portrayal of Jitu in ''TVF Pitchers'', Jeetu Bhaiya in ''Kota Factory'' and Abhishek Tripathi in '' Panchayat''. His notable ...
cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
ed as Kejriwal while sitting next to him in the latter half of the interview. He also appeared in stand-up comedian
Kunal Kamra Kunal Kamra (born 3 October 1988) is an Indian standup comedian and political satirist known for his observational comedy about absurdities of life. His performances include jokes about politics, cabbies, bachelor life and TV advertisements. ...
's
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
interview series ''Shut Up Ya Kunal''.


See also

*
Fifth Legislative Assembly of Delhi The Fifth Legislative Assembly of Delhi was constituted on 28 December 2013 after the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections on 4 December 2013. Election and Government formation Total six national parties, eleven state parties, sixty registere ...
*
2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number) * One of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017, 2117 Science * Chlorine, a halogen in the periodic table * 17 Thetis, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American mag ...


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* (co-author) * by
Pran Kurup Pran Kurup (3 October 1966 – 3 September 2016) was an Indian entrepreneur and author. Personal life Pran Kurup was born in Chennai to K. Madhava Kurup and Sarojini, who hailed from Kannur. He was the nephew of K. P. P. Nambiar. He completed h ...

प्रदूषण खत्म करने के लिए केजरीवाल ने लॉन्च किया Green Delhi App
(''Maha Khabar'').
Arvind Kejriwal – profile
(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kejriwal, Arvind 1968 births Living people Indian social entrepreneurs Indian Revenue Service officers Freedom of information activists Ramon Magsaysay Award winners IIT Kharagpur alumni Indian civil rights activists Campus School, CCS HAU alumni Chief ministers of Delhi Indian political party founders Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Indian anti-corruption activists Delhi MLAs 2013–2015 Delhi MLAs 2015–2020 Delhi MLAs 2020–2025 Politicians from Ghaziabad Chief ministers from Aam Aadmi Party Aam Aadmi Party politicians Kejriwal government Aam Aadmi Party MLAs from Delhi Indian mechanical engineers Inmates of Tihar Jail Tata Steel people