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Arvind Kejriwal Biography

Arvind Kejriwal is an Indian anti corruption activist turned

politician. This biography of Arvind Kejriwal provides detailed

information about his childhood, life, achievements, works &

timeline.

Quick Facts

Famous as Anti Corruption Activist, Politician

Nationality Indian

Born on 16 August 1968 AD

Zodiac Sign Leo

Born in Siwani, Haryana

Father Gobind Ram Kejriwal

Mother Gita Devi

Siblings Ranjana and Manoj

Spouse: Sunita

Chi ldren Harshita, Pulki t

Education BTech in Mechanical Engineering (IIT Kharagpur)

Awards Ramon Magsaysay Award (2006)


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Arvind Kejriwal is an Indian anti corruption activist turned

politician who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He is

the National Convener of the Aam Aadmi party (AAP), a political

party that was launched in November 2012. Kejriwal had been asocial activist long before he entered the world of politics and

his main motive of venturing into this field was so that he could

serve the country. As a teenager he had trouble deciding which

career to pursue: medicine or engineering. Eventually he

decided to go for engineering and set his eyes on entering the

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Stubbornly refusing to give

the entrance exam at any other college, he appeared only forthe IIT entranceand cleared it at the first try. As a student he

realized that his passion lay not in making money, but in serving

his country. He started working for the Indian Revenue Service

(IRS) and also became involved in social activism. His

involvement in the Parivartan movement earned him a Ramon

Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership. Later on he

became involved with Anna Hazare in his India AgainstCorruption (IAC) movement following which he launched the

Aam Aadmi Party. He became the Chief Minister of Delhi in

December 2013 but resigned after just 49 days.

Childhood & Early Life

He was born on 16 August 1968, in Siwani, Haryana, as

the eldest child of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. Hehas two younger siblings. His father was an electrical

engineer and the family moved often because of his work.

His mother was a well-educated woman for her time and


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ensured that her children focused on their studies well.

Arvind was sent to Campus School in Hisar before he

attended a Christian missionary school at Sonipat. He was

a loner and an avid reader. He was also a religious and

spiritually inclined teenager.

A bright student at school he was confused aboutchoosing a career path. Initially he wanted to become a

doctor but changed his mind and opted for engineering

instead. On learning that the Indian Institute of

Technology was the best for engineering studies, he set

his heart on getting into the prestigious institute.

He appeared for the test and cleared it in his first attempt.

Thus, he joined IIT Kharagpur, in West Bengal, choosingmechanical engineering as his stream.

His college experience was an eye-opener for him. While

many of his classmates planned to go abroad after

graduation, he decided to stay in India and do something

for his country. He received job offers from Oil and Natural

Gas Corporation and Gas Authority of India, but had set

his mind on getting into Tata Steel, a company that had

rejected him in their interview round.

The determined Kejriwal called the company headquarters

and requested another interview. This time he was

chosen.

Career

In 1989, he was placed in a training program at Tata Steel

and then assigned as assistant manager in Jamshedpur.

In spite of getting into his dream company he was not

happy with the job; in fact he found it quite boring.

He decided to further his studies and attempted to get into

a prestigious management institute but was turned down.

Then on the advice of a friend he decided to study for the

Civil Service Examination.

By 1992, he realized that his true calling was in serving

the society and quit his lucrative job even as he waited for


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the results of the Civil Service Examination.

Meanwhile he met Mother Teresa and worked at her

Kalighat Ashram for two months. He then joined the

Christian Brothers Association and also did village work

with Ramakrishna Missions. In addition he did some

outreach work in the rural areas with a government

organization called Nehru Yuva Kendra (Nehru Youth

Center).

Having cleared all the rounds of the Civil Service

Examination, he joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS)

in 1995. But again he was disillusioned with his job.

Exposed to rampant corruption from the very beginning,

he realized that this was not what he had imaginedgovernment service to be.

He helped found a movement called Parivartan in 1999

while working with the Income Tax Department. This

movement helped expose a fake ration card scam and

assisted the citizens of Delhi in matters related to income

tax, electricity and food rations.

In order to focus on social causes, he resigned from his

position as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New

Delhi in 2006. He established the Public Cause Research

a few months later.

Kejriwal gained in popularity when he became associated

with the prominent social activist Anna Haraze in early

2010s while campaigning for the passing of the Jan

Lokpal bill. However, he later split from Team Anna and

formed his own political party, Aam Aadmi Party, along

with his supporters in 2012.

He soon became well-known among the Indian masses for

his fight against corruption and defeated Chief Minister

Sheila Dikshit in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly

election. He took office as the Chief Minister on 28December 2013.

The citizens of Delhi had great expectations from him but

he resigned after just 49 days on 14 February 2014, as he


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found it wasnt possible to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, with

the current strength of his party.

On February 10, 2015, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party

(AAP) trounced the BJP (the ruling party at the center) in

the Delhi Assembly elections 2015. Out of 70 seats in the

assembly, the AAP won 67, leaving just 3 to the mighty

BJP.

On February 14, 2015, Arvind became the Chief Minister

of Delhi as his Aam Admi Party (AAP) formed the

government in Delhi.

Major Works

He played a major role in the Jan Lokpal movement which

pressurized the then Central government to bring the

Lokpal Bill in the parliament.

He is the National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP), which he formally launched in November 2012 with

the main motive of fighting corruption in order to bring

more transparency in governance. He also served as the

Chief Minister of Delhi from 28 December 2013 to 14February 2014.

Awards & Achiev em ents

In 2005, he was awarded the Satyendra K. Dubey

Memorial Award by IIT Kanpur for his campaign for

bringing transparency in Governance.

He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for

Emergent Leadership in 2006 for his involvement in

Parivartan movement. He donated his award money as a

corpus fund to found the NGO Public Cause Research

Foundation.

Personal Life & Legacy

He married Sunita, a batch mate from National Academy of

Administrat ion, in 1994. They have two children.


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