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

Children

Harshita, Pulkit

Education

BTech in Mechanical Engineering (IIT Kharagpur)

Awards

Ramon Magsaysay Award (2006)

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 a
social 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 for
the 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 Against
Corruption (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. He
has 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

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 about
choosing 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.
T hus, he joined IIT Kharagpur, in West Bengal, choosing
mechanical 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.
T he determined Kejriwal called the company headquarters
and requested another interview. T his time he was
chosen.
Care e r
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.
T hen 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

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 imagined
government service to be.
He helped found a movement called Parivartan in 1999
while working with the Income Tax Department. T his
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 28
December 2013.
T he citizens of Delhi had great expectations from him but
he resigned after just 49 days on 14 February 2014, as he

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 14
February 2014.
Aw ards & Achie v e m e nts
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.
Pe rsonal Life & Le gacy
He married Sunita, a batch mate from National Academy of
Administration, in 1994. T hey have two children.