Arvind Kejriwal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2022 | |
| 7thChief Minister of Delhi | |
| In office 14 February 2015 – 21 September 2024 | |
| Lieutenant Governor | |
| Deputy | Manish Sisodia(till 28 February 2023) |
| Preceded by | President's rule |
| Succeeded by | Atishi Marlena |
| In office 28 December 2013 – 14 February 2014 | |
| Lieutenant Governor | Najeeb Jung |
| Preceded by | Sheila Dikshit |
| Succeeded by | President's rule |
| Member of theDelhi Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 28 December 2013 – 8 February 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Sheila Dikshit |
| Succeeded by | Parvesh Verma |
| Constituency | New Delhi |
| National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party | |
| Assumed office 26 November 2012 | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-08-16)16 August 1968 (age 57) Siwani, Haryana, India |
| Political party | Aam Aadmi Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | 5, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi |
| Alma mater | IIT Kharagpur (BTech) |
| Profession |
|
| Known for | |
| Awards | Ramon Magsaysay Award |
| ||
|---|---|---|
2013–2025
Electoral Performance Legislative Assembly Media Activism Controversies | ||
| Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video | ||
Arvind Kejriwal (Hindi pronunciation:[əɾʋin̪d̪ked͡ʒɾiːʋaːl]; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician,activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7thChief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the nationalconvener of theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) since 2012. He represented theNew Delhi constituency in theDelhi Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2025, and previously from 2013 to 2014.
In 2006, Kejriwal was awarded theRamon Magsaysay Award for his involvement in theParivartan movement usingright to information legislation in a campaign against government corruption. The same year, after resigning from government service, he founded thePublic Cause Research Foundation to campaign for transparent governance. Before entering politics, Kejriwal had worked in theIndian Revenue Service. Prior to that, he was a mechanical engineer fromIIT Kharagpur.
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 the2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections, the AAP registered an unprecedented majority. In subsequent2020 elections, 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 in2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.
He wasarrested on 21 March 2024 by theEnforcement Directorate on allegations of aliquor scam against the Aam Aadmi Party ledDelhi Government.[1][2] He became the first ever sitting chief minister in India to be arrested.[3] His other party leaders,Satyendra Jain,Sanjay Singh andManish Sisodia have also spent months to years in jail without bail, trial or conviction.[4] The opposition alliance called the arrest weeks before the2024 Indian general election, a case of fabrication and "match-fixing" by the BJP.Amnesty International said that financial and terrorism laws have been weaponised to go after political opponents.[5] On 10 May, theSupreme Court ordered Kejriwal's release on interim bail until 1 June 2024, on account of campaigning for the election.[6][7] Kejriwal surrendered atTihar Jail 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.[8] On 17 September 2024, he resigned as Delhi Chief Minister saying he will only become CM again if he receives a public mandate.[9]
His party suffered a heavy defeat in the2025 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, with he himself losing his seat toParvesh Verma by a margin of over 4,000 votes from theNew Delhi Assembly constituency along with many other notable party members ofAAP
Kejriwal was born in aHaryanviAgrawal-Baniya[10] family inSiwani in theBhiwani district ofHaryana, 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 theBirla Institute of Technology, Mesra. Kejriwal spent most of his childhood in north Indian towns such asSonipat,Ghaziabad andHisar. He was educated atCampus School in Hisar[11] and at Holy Child School atSonipat.[12] In 1985, he took theIIT-JEE exam and secured All India Rank (AIR) of 563.[13] He graduated fromIndian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, majoring in mechanical engineering.[14]
He joinedTata Steel in 1989 and was posted inJamshedpur,Bihar (now inJharkhand). Kejriwal resigned in 1992, having taken leave of absence to study for theCivil Services Examination.[11] He spent some time inCalcutta (present-day Kolkata), where he metMother Teresa, and volunteered with TheMissionaries of Charity and at theRamakrishna Mission inNorth-East India and atNehru Yuva Kendra.[15][16]
Arvind Kejriwal joined theIndian Revenue Service (IRS) as an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax in 1995, after qualifying through theCivil Services Examination.[17][18][19] In February 2006, he resigned from his position as Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi.[17]
In 2012, Arvind Kejriwal founded the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to fight corruption and improve governance. The party made its mark in the2013 Legislative Assembly election, but his first government lasted only 49 days. In 2015, Kejriwal returned with a decisive victory, focusing oneducation,healthcare, andwelfare. He was re-elected in 2020, further cementing his leadership in Delhi. However, his defeat in 2025 in Delhi polls revealed his short comings. Since 2012, he has acted as the main national convenor of AAP.
In December 1999, while still in service with the Income Tax Department, Kejriwal,Manish Sisodia and others founded a movement namedParivartan (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.[20][21]
Parivartan addressed citizens' grievances related toPublic Distribution System (PDS), public works, social welfare schemes, income tax and electricity. It was not a registeredNGO - it ran on individual donations, and was characterised as ajan andolan ("people's movement") by its members.[22] Later, in 2005, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia launched Kabir, a registered NGO named after the medieval philosopherKabir. 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.[23]
In 2000, Parivartan filed apublic interest litigation (PIL) demanding transparency in public dealings of the Income Tax department, and also organised asatyagraha outside the Chief Commissioner's office.[24] 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.[25]
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.[21] On 14 December 2002, Parivartan organised aJan sunvai (public hearing), in which the citizens held public officials and leaders accountable for the lack of development in their locality.[26]
In 2003 (and again in 2008[27]), Parivartan exposed a PDS scam, in whichration shop dealers were siphoning off subsidised foodgrains in collusion with civic officials. In 2004, Parivartan used RTI applications to access communication between government agencies and theWorld Bank, regarding a project forprivatisation 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.[24][25]
Along with other social activists likeAnna Hazare,Aruna Roy andShekhar Singh, Kejriwal came to be recognised as an important contributor to the campaign for a national-levelRight to Information Act (enacted in 2005).[24] 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.[28] The award recognised him for activating the RTI movement at the grassroots and empowering New Delhi's poor citizens to fight corruption.[25]
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.[22] 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.[29]
In December 2006, Kejriwal established the Public Cause Research Foundation in December 2006, together withManish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri. He donated his Ramon Magsaysay Award prize money as aseed fund. Besides the three founders,Prashant Bhushan andKiran Bedi served as the Foundation's trustees.[30] This new body paid the employees of Parivartan.[22] Kejriwal used the RTI Act in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax Department, theMunicipal Corporation of Delhi, thePublic Distribution System and theDelhi Electricity Board.[15]
In 2010, Kejriwal protested against corruption in theCommonwealth Games. He argued that theCentral Vigilance Commission (CVC) did not have any powers to take any action against the guilty, whileCBI was incapable of launching an unbiased investigation against the ministers who controlled it. He advocated appointment of publicombudsman - Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states.[31]
In 2011, Kejriwal joined several other activists, includingAnna Hazare andKiran Bedi, to form theIndia Against Corruption (IAC) group. The IAC demanded enactment of theJan Lokpal Bill, which would result in a strong ombudsman. The campaign evolved into the2011 Indian anti-corruption movement. In response to the campaign, the government's advisory body - theNational Advisory Council - 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.[32]
Amid continuing protests, the Government constituted a committee to Draft aJan Lokpal Bill. Kejriwal was one of thecivil society representative members of this committee. However, he alleged that the IAC activists had an unequal position in the committee, and the government appointees kept ignoring their recommendations. The Government argued that the activists could not be allowed to blackmail the elected representatives through protests. Kejriwal retorted that democratically elected representatives could not be allowed to function like dictators, and asked for a public debate on the contentious issues.[33]
The IAC activists intensified their protests, andAnna Hazare organised ahunger strike. 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.[34][35] In August 2011, a settlement was reached between the Government and the activists.[36]
Besides the government, theJan Lokpal movement was also criticised by some citizens as 'undemocratic' on the grounds that the ombudsman had powers over elected representatives.Arundhati Roy 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 theFord Foundation had funded the Emergent Leadership category of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, and also donated $397,000 to Kejriwal'sNGO Kabir.[37] 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.[38][39] Kejriwal also denied the allegations that the movement was a plot against the ruling Congress by theRSS, or that it was an upper-caste conspiracy against theDalits.[23]
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.[40] By mid-2012, Kejriwal had replaced Anna Hazare as the face of the remaining protestors.[41] In January 2014, Kejriwal said that he will quit from the government if Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed.[42] In 2015, during the second term of the AAP government in Delhi, theJan Lokpal Bill was passed by the assembly awaiting the president's approval.[43]
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.[44] In November 2012, they formally launched the Aam Aadmi Party; Kejriwal was elected as the party's National Convener. The party name reflects the phraseAam Aadmi, or "common man", whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent.[45] The establishment of AAP caused a rift between Kejriwal and Hazare.[46]
AAP decided to contest the2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, with Kejriwal contesting against the incumbent Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit. Kejriwal became the fifth most-mentioned Indian politician on social media channels in the run-up to the elections.[47]
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.[48] Kejriwal defeated incumbent Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit of theIndian National Congress (INC), in her constituency ofNew Delhi[49] by a margin of 25,864 votes.[50]
AAP formed a minority government in thehung assembly, (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.[51][52] Kejriwal was sworn in as the second-youngest chief minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013, afterChaudhary Brahm Prakash who became chief minister at the age of 34.[53][54] He was in charge of Delhi's home, power, planning, finance, services and vigilance ministries.[55]
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.[56] Kejriwal blamed the Indian National Congress and theBharatiya Janata Party for stalling the anti-corruption legislation and linked it with the government's decision to register aFirst Information Report (FIR) against industrialistMukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director ofReliance Industries.[57] In April 2014 he said that he had made a mistake by resigning without publicly explaining the rationale behind his decision.[58]
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.[59] In those elections, he was again elected from the New Delhi constituency, defeatingNupur Sharma by 31,583 votes.[60] He took oath on 14 February 2015 as Delhi's chief minister for a second time atRamlila Maidan.[61][62] Since then his party has passed the Jan Lokpal Bill though with some differences.[43][63]
There has been a long-running dispute between Kejriwal's office and that of theLieutenant-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 theSupreme Court of India.[64]
Mohalla Clinics that areprimary health centres in Delhi was first set up by the Aam Aadmi Party government in 2015, and as of 2018, 187[65] such clinics have been set up across the state and served more than 2 million residents.[66] 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 essentialhealth services including medicines, diagnostics, and consultation free of cost.[67] These clinics serve as the first point of contact for the population, offer timely services, and reduce the load of referrals to secondary andtertiary health facilities in the state.[68] Beginning in October 2019, New Delhi began rolling out free bus transit for women on theDelhi Transport Corporation, with women travelling for free when using pink tickets carrying a message from Kejriwal.[69] He has been criticised for his controversial remarks overBiharis and "outsiders".[70][71][72]
Shunglu Committee submitted a report to LG of Delhi raising questions over decisions of Government of Delhi.[73]
AAP won 62 seats out of 70 in the2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. He took oath on 16 February 2020 as Delhi's chief minister for a third time at Ramlila Maidan, equalling the record ofSheila Dikshit.[74] On 21 March 2024, he became the first ever sitting chief minister in India to be arrested and imprisoned.[3][75] 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.[9] He resigned formally on 17 September 2024[76] and AAP named education ministerAtishi Marlena as his replacement.[77]
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.[78] 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.[79]
In a reply to aRight 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.[80][81] Critics accused Kejriwal of being "criminally liable" for the deaths of several patients in two Delhi hospitals due to oxygen shortages.[82]
In July 2022, a Supreme Court-appointed audit panel concluded that the Delhi government had exaggerated its oxygen requirements by four times during thesecond wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.[83]
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.[84][85]
Following the incident, AAP MLASaurabh Bhardwaj filed a petition in theDelhi High Court seeking the constitution of aSpecial Investigation Team (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.[86] It alleged that the attackers breached the security cordon, damaged property including CCTV cameras, and vandalised the residence while police personnel failed to intervene.[86]
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.[87][86]
After skipping nine summons from theEnforcement Directorate (ED), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March 2024 by the ED after theDelhi High Court rejected his anticipatory bail in connection with theDelhi liquor policy money laundering case.[88][89] 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).[90][91] The opposition alliance called it a fabricated case and "match-fixing" before the2024 general elections by theBharatiya Janata Party led union government.[5] TheDelhi High Court 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.[7][92][93]
Following the end of his interim bail and failure to extend it on medical grounds, Kejriwal surrendered at Tihar Jail on 2 June.[93] He was then sent to judicial custody until 5 June 2024.[93][94] 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.[95][96] 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.[97] Kejriwal was then questioned for 3 days by theCentral 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.[98][99]
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.[100][101] On 5 September 2024, the Supreme court reserved an order on his bail in the CBI case.[102] The reserved order was pronounced by the SC on 13 September 2024, granting him bail and ultimately leading to his release fromTihar Jail after five months.[8] However he served in prison for more than 5 months.[103]
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Result | Margin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Varanasi | AAP | 209,238 | 20.30 | BJP | Narendra Modi | Lost | 371,784 | ||
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Result | Margin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | New Delhi | AAP | 44,269 | 53.46 | INC | Sheila Dikshit | Won | 25,864 | ||
| 2015 | 57,213 | 64.34 | BJP | Nupur Sharma | Won | 31,583 | ||||
| 2020 | 46,758 | 61.10 | Sunil Kumar Yadav | Won | 21,697 | |||||
| 2025 | 25,999 | 42.18 | Parvesh Verma | Lost | 4,089 | |||||
Kejriwal discussed his views oncorruption and the state of the Indiandemocracy in his bookSwaraj. He advocates for adecentralisation of government and the involvement of thepanchayat in local decisions and budgets. He claims that foreignmultinational corporations 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.[29]
In 1995, Kejriwal married Sunita, a 1993-batch IRS officer. She took voluntary retirement in 2016 as Commissioner of Income Tax in theIncome Tax Appellate Tribunal.
The couple have a daughter and a son. Kejriwal followsHinduism.[104] Kejriwal is a vegetarian and has been practising theVipassanā meditation technique for many years.[11] He isdiabetic.[105] In 2016, he underwent a surgery for his persistent cough problem.[106]
Kejriwal considers himself anAmbedkarite and calls himself a 'devotee' ofB. R. Ambedkar.[107][108]
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In May 2021, Kejriwal called for the Indian 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".[109][110][111] 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.[109] 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”.[112] The foreign minister of India,Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the foreign minister of Singapore,Vivian Balakrishnan, criticised Kejriwal's comment as "irresponsible" and counter-factual respectively.[113][114]
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.[115][116][117][118]
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.[119] Of the several on the list,Nitin Gadkari 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.[120][121][122]
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.[123][124] Kejriwal apologised to Majithia a couple of years later in March 2018.[125][126][127]
Kejriwal made allegations against finance ministerArun Jaitley for irregularities inDDCA. 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 MPKirti Azad 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.[128][129][130][131] Following this, in April 2018 Arvind Kejriwal and three others from his party includingSanjay Singh, Raghav Chaddha and Ashutosh apologised to Arun Jaitley in a joint letter.[132][133]
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.[134][135]
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 "noprima facie case" was made against them.[136]
In February 2024, Kejriwal was involved in a defamation lawsuit and issued an apology to theSupreme Court of India for retweeting YouTuberDhruv Rathee's 2018 video onBJP IT Cell. The Delhi high court, in its earlier ruling had stated that sharing "purportedly libelous" content would fall under defamation laws.[137][138] On 11 March 2025, a Delhi court ordered an FIR against Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly misusing public money on large hoardings[139]
In late April 2023, BJP made allegations that Kejriwal had misappropriated public funds for renovations of his residence in Delhi.[140][141] An investigation was announced on 29 April 2023.[142][143][144] 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.[145][146][147][148][149][150]
In March 2014, in a leaked video of an interview with journalistPunya Prasun Bajpai, Kejriwal was seen giving instructions to Bajpai on promoting his interview by comparing his resignation to the sacrifice ofBhagat Singh 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.[151][152]
He was arrested on 21 March 2024 by theEnforcement Directorate on allegations of aDelhi liquor scam against Aam Aadmi Party'sDelhi Government.[1][2] He became the first ever incumbent chief minister in India to be arrested while still holding the post.[3] The ED also accused him of spying on their officials.[153][154] He had skipped nine summons by the Enforcement Directorate as well, before that.[155] TheDelhi High Court dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's petition against his arrest.[161] He was granted bail by theDelhi High Court on 20 June 2024.[162] His ministers,Satyendra Jain andManish Sisodia 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.[4] Manish Sisodia was granted bail by theSupreme Court on 9 August 2024.[163] The opposition alliance called the arrest weeks before the2024 Indian general election a case of fabrication and "match-fixing" by the BJP.Amnesty International 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.[5] On 20 June 2024, Kejriwal was released on bail after paying bail bond of onelakhIndian Rupees.[97] His bail was put on hold before release as ED appealed against Kejriwal's bail.[164] On 20 June, he was granted bail but his release was delayed due to an ED appeal.[97] The CBI arrested him on 26 June, extending his custody to 12 July.[98][99] On 12 July, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail for allegedDelhi liquor policy money laundering case, but he remains in jail in CBI case related to alleged Liquor policy scam.[101] On 5 September 2024, the Supreme court upheld Delhi High Court's order of not granting bail to Kejriwal.[102] On 13 September 2024, Kejriwal was granted bail by Supreme Court while imposing certain restrictions to his office of the Chief Minister.[8]
An Insignificant Man is a 2017 Hindi/English Indian socio-political documentary co-produced and directed by Khushboo Ranka andVinay Shukla and also co-produced by filmmakerAnand Gandhi.[165][166] The documentary is about the rise ofanti-corruption protests in India and the formation and rise to power of the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal.[167][168][169]
Kejriwal has appeared on the talk-shows and interviews of News channels. He spoofed himself on the third episode of the first season ofThe Viral Fever'sBarely Speaking With Arnub, where actorJitendra Kumarcosplayed as Kejriwal while sitting next to him in the latter half of the interview.[170][171] He also appeared in stand-up comedianKunal Kamra'sYouTube interview seriesShut Up Ya Kunal.[172][173]
Media from Commons
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| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Delhi 28 December 2013 – 14 February 2014 | Vacant Title next held by Arvind Kejriwal |
| Vacant Title last held by Arvind Kejriwal | Chief Minister of Delhi 14 February 2015–17 September 2024 | Succeeded by |
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| New political party | National Convener of AAP 2012 – | Incumbent |
| New political party | Member of Political Affairs Committee ofAAP ? – present | Incumbent |
| New political party | Member of National Executive Committee ofAAP ? – present | Incumbent |
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| Preceded by | Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly fromNew Delhi Assembly constituency 2013–2025 | Succeeded by |
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