Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal took birth on the 16th of August, 1968. He is an Indian politician, activist, and former bureaucrat who has served as Delhi's 7th Chief Minister since February 2015. He first served as Delhi's Chief Minister from December 2013 to February 2014, resigning after just 49 days in office. He now serves as the Aam Aadmi Party's national convener. The party won 67 of the 70 assembly seats with a record majority in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. Kejriwal received the 'Ramon Magsaysay Award' for Emergent Leadership in 2006 in honour of his participation in 'Parivartan'. This grassroots movement used the freedom of information laws to fight against government corruption. He gave his Magsaysay award money to the Public Cause Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization, in the same year he left government employment.

Before entering politics, Kejriwal was a Joint Director of Income Tax for the Indian Revenue Authority in New Delhi. Kejriwal is an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur mechanical engineering graduate. He established the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012, and it triumphed in the 2013 election for the Delhi Legislative Assembly. On December 28, 2013, he was sworn in as Delhi's Chief Minister following the election. After 49 days, he announced his resignation on February 14, 2014. He said that this was due to his minority government's failure to enact his anti-corruption legislation because it lacked the backing of other major parties. On February 14, 2015, he was again elected as chief minister after his party won the Delhi Legislative Council election. Kejriwal has the most followers on Twitter than any other chief minister.

Early Life and Education

The first of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi's three children, Kejriwal was born to an Agrawal family on August 16, 1968, in Siwani, Bhiwani region, Haryana. His father graduated from BIT Mesra as an electrical engineer. Most of Kejriwal's youth was spent in north Indian cities like Sonipat, Ghaziabad, and Hisar. He attended Holy Child School in Sonipat and Campus School in Hisar for his education. He sat the IIT-JEE test in 1985, earning an All India Rank (AIR) of 563. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the IIT Kharagpur.

He joined Tata Steel as a trainee in 1989 and was assigned to Jamshedpur, Bihar. After taking leave in 1992 to study for the Civil Services Exam, Kejriwal quit his job. He spent some time in Calcutta (current-day Kolkata), where he met Mother Teresa and assisted The Missionaries of Charity at the Nehru Yuva Kendra and North-East Indian Ramakrishna Mission.

Career

Arvind Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Authority (IRS) in 1995 as an Associate Director of Income Tax after completing the Civil Services Exam. On the proviso that he would not quit the service for at least two years after returning to work, he was given a two-year paid leave of absence in November 2000 to continue his further studies. He would be required to pay back the salary paid during the leave time if he didn't follow that agreement. In November 2002, he returned to his job. Kejriwal claims that for over a year, he had no postings and continued to get money while performing no job. Kejriwal was authorized to take a further 18 months of unpaid leave.

By not practising for three years, the Indian government said that Kejriwal had broken the terms of his initial contract. Kejriwal said his 18 months of employment and 18 months of unpaid leave equated to the required three years. He further added that this was an effort to discredit him because he participated in the Indian anti-corruption campaign. The conflict persisted for several years before it was finally settled in 2011 when he used loans from friends to pay his way out of the service. Kejriwal paid the required amount of Rs. 927,787, although he insisted that this wasn't an admission of guilt.

After entering politics, Kejriwal stated in 2013 that he had preferred public service over making millions as an Income Tax Commissioner. The IRS association brought up the news that he had never been elevated to the Commissioner of Income Tax position, which sparked a debate.

Establishment of the Aam Aadmi Party

One of the main charges against the Jan Lokpal campaigners was that they lacked the authority to impose their will on the elected officials. They formally established the Aam Aadmi Party in November 2012, and Kejriwal was chosen to serve as its National Convener. The word "common man", or "Aam Aadmi", is reflected in the party's name, whose interests Kejriwal sought to promote. Kejriwal and Hazare became estranged due to the creation of the AAP.

In 2013, AAP decided to run candidates for the Delhi Legislative Assembly, with Kejriwal taking on Sheila Dikshit, the current Chief Minister. In the elections lead, Kejriwal rose to the fifth-most discussed Indian political leader on social media.

Chief Minister of Delhi (First Term)

In the 70-seat Delhi Legislative Assembly election of 2013, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 31 seats, preceded by the Aam Aadmi Party with 28 seats. Kejriwal defeated Sheila Dikshit, a candidate for the Indian National Congress (INC), by a margin of 25,864 votes in New Delhi.

With help from the eight INC MLAs, one Janata Dal MLA, and one individual MLA, AAP established a minority administration in the hung assembly. On December 28, 2013, Kejriwal took the oath of office as Delhi's second-youngest chief minister, trailing only Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, who took office at age 34. He oversaw Delhi's housing, power, planning, finances, services, and vigilance ministries.

On February 14th, 2014, he resigned as chief minister for failing to present the Jan Lokpal Bill before the Delhi Legislature. He argued in favour of dissolving the assembly. Kejriwal blamed Congress and the BJP for the delay in passing anti-corruption legislation and linked it to the government's decision to file a First Information Report (FIR) against tycoon Mukesh Ambani, chairman and CEO of Reliance Industries. He said that it was a mistake for him to leave his position without disclosing his reasons for doing so to the public in April 2014.

Chief Minister of Delhi (Second Term)

In 67 of the 70 seats that the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party competed in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls, the BJP earned three seats, and the INC received none. He defeated Nupur Sharma with 31,583 votes in the New Delhi seat during those elections. On February 14, 2015, he took his second pledge of administration as Delhi's CM at Ramlila Maidan. His party has since approved the Jan Lokpal Bill with significant modifications.

During Kejriwal's second tenure as chief minister, there has been a protracted disagreement between his office and the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi. There has been disagreement over who ultimately controls certain aspects of government, including several important public appointments. After a judicial defeat, Manish Sisodia described it as "a war between the picked and the elected".

The Aam Aadmi Party administration first established Mohalla Clinics, which are primary health centres, in Delhi since 2015. A basic set of free medical services, including prescription drugs, diagnostic tests, and consultations, is provided through Mohalla Clinics. These clinics offer prompt services, operate as the population's initial point of contact, and lessen the number of recommendations to the state's secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities.

Chief Minister of Delhi (Third Term)

In the 2020 election for the Delhi Legislative Assembly, AAP won 62 of the 70 seats. At Ramlila Maidan, he took his third oath of office as Delhi's chief minister on February 16, 2020. Due to "a new type of coronavirus identified in Singapore" that "is being claimed to be particularly deadly for children", Kejriwal demanded in May 2021 that the federal government of India immediately halt airline travel between India and Singapore and provide "vaccine alternatives for children". However, there is no known COVID-19 variation originating from Singapore. However, a recent article on the virus' threat to Singaporean children did mention the B.1.617 form, which was initially discovered in India.

In Singapore, B.1.617 was a common COVID-19 subtype. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the foreign minister of India, and Vivian Balakrishnan, the foreign minister of Singapore, denounced Kejriwal's statement as "irresponsible" and "counter-factual," respectively.

Attack by BJP Members

CM Kejariwal's official house was assaulted by BJP thugs in March 2022. Deputy CM Shishodia referred to the event as a plot to kill Kejriwal.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, an AAP lawmaker, petitioned the Delhi High Court (HC) to form a Special Team Of investigators (SIT) to investigate the event. In his plea, he said that it seemed as though Delhi police had participated in the attack and vandalism with "tacit involvement". On August 22, 2017, the Delhi High Court ordered the Delhi Police to ensure that there were no needless protests on the street next to the Delhi CM's home because it was a residential neighbourhood. The appeal stated that the 2017 order had been broken by the Delhi Police's inactivity in this event.

To ensure the protection of the Chief Minister and his house, the petition requested that the court give instructions to the Police Authorities and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Eight people engaged in the event were detained on March 31, 2022. According to the Indian Penal Code's Prohibition of Damage to Public Properties Act, a complaint was reported to the police for obstructing a public official. The Delhi High Court observed insufficient security to regulate the gathering and requested an update on the police inquiry into the event.

Lawsuits

Several defamation lawsuits were brought by Arvind Kejriwal's political rivals. A list of the most dishonest politicians was published by Kejriwal in January 2014 and featured several influential figures from various political parties. Nitin Gadkari promptly launched a defamation lawsuit against Kejriwal as one of the individuals on the list. After that, Kejriwal apologized to Nitin Gadkari, a union minister, for his unfounded claims. He also asked former minister Kapil Sibal to apologize.

When Kejriwal accused Punjab's then-revenue minister Bikram Majithia of being involved in the drug trade in 2016, Majithia sued him and two other members of the Aam Aadmi party for defamation. A few years later, in March 2018, Kejriwal expressed regret to Majithia.

Arun Jaitley, the finance minister, was accused by Kejriwal of having irregularities in the DDCA. Arun Jaitley sued Kejriwal for defamation in the amount of 10 crores. Delhi High Court suspended BJP lawmaker Kirti Azad from submitting written responses to a civil defamation lawsuit brought by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) over alleged comments they made about the cricket organization's operations and finances. Following this, in April 2018, Arun Jaitley received a combined letter of apology from Arvind Kejriwal and three other party members, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chaddha, and Ashutosh.

Before the second phase of elections in 2015, Kejriwal stated in his petition to the Election Directorate that he was facing ten criminal charges and 47 orders. In 2021, a Delhi judiciary cleared Kejriwal and 10 AAP MLAs of all costs and rejected an assault allegation brought by a Delhi official against them. The court stated that no "prima facie case" was produced against them.

Political Views

In his book Swaraj, Kejriwal presented his opinions on corrupt practices and the status of Indian democracy. He favours local control over finance and decisions and decentralization of power. He asserts that central government decision-making is unduly influenced by foreign multinational businesses, and central governments are not held responsible for their acts and inaction after being elected.

Personal Life

Arvind wed Sunita, an IRS agent from the 1993 class, in 1995. As Commissioner of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, she voluntarily retired in 2016. The pair has a son and a daughter. Kejriwal got surgery in 2016 to treat his chronic cough issue. Kejriwal declares himself a "devotee" of B. R. Ambedkar and himself an Ambedkarite.

Awards and Achievements

He received the SKD Memorial Award from IIT Kanpur in 2005 in recognition of his work to increase government openness. His services to the Parivartan movement earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Innovative Leadership in 2006. He established the nonprofit Public Cause Research Association using the proceeds from his prize as a corpus fund.