From anti-corruption crusader to facing graft charges: How Arvind Kejriwal’s life has come full circle

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest last night in a money laundering probe related to the scrapped excise policy has created an uproar among his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Opposition leaders. The arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) comes just weeks before India heads to crucial general elections.

The AAP is expected to move a lower court against the Delhi CM’s arrest after withdrawing its plea from the Supreme Court on Friday (22 March). After Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, Kejriwal is the third high-profile AAP leader arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case.

The Delhi CM’s arrest on corruption charges is significant as Kejriwal swept to power in the National Capital almost a decade back on an anti-corruption plank.

Let’s take a closer look at his political journey.

Rise and rise of Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal became a household name in 2011 as he led the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement alongside social activist Anna Hazare. They sat on two hunger strikes in Delhi that year, demanding a Jan Lokpal (ombudsman) to tackle “political corruption”, noted Indian Express.

Kejriwal, a former IRS officer, won admirers nationwide with the anti-corruption movement, which is believed to have impaired the Congress-led UPA government’s electoral prospects in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Grand Old Party’s regime was battling major corruption accusations at the time.

Veteran Indian social activist Anna Hazare (R) speaks to Arvind Kejriwal, a member of his team during their hunger strike in New Delhi on 2 August 2012. Reuters File Photo

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is said to have benefited from the Hazare-led movement. Riding on the “Modi wave” and anti-Congress sentiments, the saffron party was catapulted to power at the Centre, the newspaper reported.

Emerging from the IAC, Kejriwal and his close aides floated the political party – AAP – in October 2012. The party gained people’s trust and won 28 of the 70 seats in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections.

Kejriwal even trounced Congress leader and former CM Sheila Dikshit by over 25,000 votes from the New Delhi constituency. He formed the government with outside backing from the Congress.

Leaning into his “common man” image, Kejriwal took a Metro to reach Ramlila Maidan for his swearing-in ceremony instead of an official vehicle. His government lasted only 49 days as Kejriwal resigned over the obstruction in the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly, according to PTI.

Propelled by his party’s performance in its poll debut in Delhi, Kejriwal decided to fight against the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. While the AAP leader secured over two lakh votes, he was defeated by Modi by a huge margin.

As Delhi went to polls again in 2015, Kejriwal’s party returned to power with a bigger mandate, securing 67 of the 70 Assembly seats. The BJP managed to win three seats, while Congress drew a blank.

AAP’s many disputes

As AAP tasted success in Delhi, differences began to arise within the party’s leadership. In 2015, the party expelled several founding members like Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha.

Yadav and Bhushan had hit out at Kejriwal’s alleged “dictatorial” ways, while the party accused them of undermining its electoral campaign in Delhi.

Another estranged founding member, Mayank Gandhi, told ThePrint in 2018 that Kejriwal was “opportunistic” and under him, AAP became an “autocratic party” from a democratic one.

Despite the exit of many prominent faces from the party, Kejriwal continued to garner popularity with his government’s focus on improving the National Capital’s health infrastructure, upgrading government schools and providing power and water subsidies.

Despite being denounced by his critics for capitulating on his Lokpal promise, Kejriwal’s acceptance among voters remained intact. While AAP could not win a single seat from Delhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party returned to power in the city by winning 62 seats in the Assembly elections the following year.

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Arvind Kejriwal’s life comes full circle

Kejriwal, 55, once called himself an “insignificant man”. However, that is far from the truth now.

After Delhi, the AAP registered a landslide victory in Punjab, overthrowing Congress from power in 2022. It also attained the status of a national party with its expansion in Gujarat by bagging five Assembly seats that year.

Over the decade, Kejriwal’s politics has evolved. From adopting a “soft Hindutva” approach to partnering with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the AAP has seen major shifts in its stance.

Kejriwal, who rode to power as an anti-corruption crusader, is himself facing corruption charges. In a blow to his “common man” image, the BJP has accused Kejriwal of revamping his official bungalow for Rs 52.7 crore.

Supporters of Aam Admi Party, or Common Man’s Party, shout slogans during a protest against the arrest of their party leader Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi, 22 March 2024. AP

The bespectacled, so-called “mufflerman” has now been arrested on graft allegations in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, after months of skipping ED summons. The Opposition has condemned his arrest, calling it an assault on democracy.

Last year, the Delhi CM had said at a press conference that if “Kejriwal is corrupt then no one in this world is honest”. As India goes to polls next month and AAP’s top leaders are behind bars, we will have to wait to see if the party can successfully revive its anti-corrupt image and convince the voters of Kejriwal’s “innocence”.

With inputs from agencies