In this article, I will focus on Arvind Kejriwal Quotes and his short biography. You will find the interesting story of a government bureaucrat who became a politician.
Table of Contents
Who is Arvind Kejriwal?
Arvind Kejriwal is the current Chief Minister of Delhi and National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is not only a politician but also a social activist and a former bureaucrat. The success story of Arvind Kejriwal is very interesting.
Early life of Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal was born on 16 August, 1968 in Siwani, Bhiwani district, Haryana. His father’s name is Gobind Ram Kejriwal and mother’s name is Gita Devi. His father was an electrical engineer who studied at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. He has three children, among them Kejriwal is the first son. He grew up in north India. Most of his childhood was spent in Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Hisar.
Education of Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal started his education at campus school in Hisar. After that he changed the school and was admitted to Christian Missionary Holy Child School at Sonipat.
He took the IIT-JEE exam in 1985 and his score was 563 in All India Rank (AIR). He studied in Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Career of Arvind Kejriwal
After graduation, he joined Tata Steel Company in 1989. His first posting was in Jamshedpur. But he was not satisfied with that job. At first he took leave of absence for the preparation of Civil Services Examination and finally resigned in 1992.
Before joining into another job, he spent some time in Calcutta. He met Mother Teresa there and inspired by her, he spent some time volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity and at Ramakrishna Mission in North-East India and at Nehru Yuva Kendra.
After passing the Civil Services Examination, in 1995 Arvind Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax. In November 2000, he got a chance from the higher authority for two years paid leave to pursue higher education. But there was a condition that he would not resign from the service for at least three years and if he failed to do that, then he had to repay the salary given during the leave period. He accepted the term and did higher study. After completing the study, he rejoined the service in November 2002.
But by the statement of Kejriwal, it was almost one year, he was not given any posting. Getting a salary without doing any work made him guilty. So after 18 months, he applied for leave without paying any amount of money. For the next 18 months, he was granted unpaid leave. Finally in February 2006, he resigned from the job as Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi.
According to Kejriwal, 18 months of work and 18 months of unpaid absence is equal to three years. But the Government of India claimed that he had violated his agreement. The dispute ran for several years. At last in 2011, he had to pay ₹927,787 rupees as dues to the Government.
Anti-corruption Activism of Arvind Kejriwal
In December 1999, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and some friends found a movement in the Sundar Nagar area of Delhi. He was still in the Income Tax Department when that movement named ‘Parivartan’ (change) was organized. Parivartan worked in the field of public works, social welfare schemes, income tax and electricity. As it was not a registered NGO, it ran on individual donations. In 2005, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia launched a registered NGO named Kabir.
Paribartan was widely known in 2000 when they filed a public interest litigation demanding transparency in public dealings of the Income Tax Department. At the same time they organized a ‘Satyagraha’ outside the Chief Commissioner’s office.
Arvind Kejriwal was widely known after the campaign for a national-level Right to Information Act in 2005 along with other social activists like Anna Hazare, Aruna Roy and Shakhar Singh. In December 2006, Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri established the Public Cause Research Foundation.
In 2011, he together with other social activists formed the India Against Corruption (IAC) group demanding the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill. But by the time being, there were some conflicts arose between Kejriwal and Anna Hazare. Hazare wanted the movement to be neutral whereas kejriwal felt to get involved in politics. Shanti Bhusan and Prashant Bhusan supported Kejriwal. On the other hand, Kiran Bedi and Santosh Hegde opposed it.
Political Career of Arvind Kejriwal
Because of the conflict, at last, Kejriwal along with like-minded friends formed the ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ in November 2012. He was elected as the National Convener of the party. The party decided to contest the upcoming Delhi Legislative Assembly Election 2013. In that election, the Bharatiya Janta Party won 31 seats and the Aam Aadmi Party won 28 seats. AAP formed a minority government with the support of Indian National Congress and others. But unfortunately, 49 days later, he resigned as Chief Minister because of failing to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly on 14 February 2014.
After his resignation, he announced he would not contest in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election. But the party members did not agree with his decision. So they requested him to withdraw his decision and to contest in the election. He changed his decision and contested against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi. He lost that contest.
In 2015, AAP again formed the government in Delhi winning 67 of the 70 seats in the 2015 Delhi Assembly Election. He took oath on 14 February 2015 at Ramlila Maidan as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the second time.
In January 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 seats and formed the government. Kejriwal again seated as Chief Minister of Delhi for the 3rd time.
Family life of Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal married Sunita in 1995. She was also a Indian Revenue Services officer. They were the same batch; 1993-batch. In 2016, she took voluntary retirement as Commissioner of Income Tax in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
They have a daughter named Harshita, and a son named Pulkit. Kejriwal is a vegetarian by food habit. He is also a Vipassana practitioner. He has been practising this for many years. He has diabetic. He had to undergo surgery in 2016 for his persistent cough problem.
Awards and Achievments of Arvind Kejriwal
2004: Ashoka Fellow Award
2005: Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award, by IIT Kanpur
2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award
2006: CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award
2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Kanpur
2009: Grant and fellowship Award by the Association for India’s Development
2010: Economic Times Award along with Aruna Roy
2011: NDTV Indian of the Year Award along with Anna Hazare
2013: CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award in Politics
2013: Top 100 global thinker by Foreign Policy magazine
2014: Top 100 the most influential people in the world by Time’s 2014
2016: World’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune
2017: An Insignificant Man – a documentary on the political journey of Arvind Kejriwal was released.
Book of Arvind Kejriwal
Swaraj – Published in 2012
Book written on Arvind Kejriwal
A Man With a Mission: Arvind Kejriwal – written by Little Scholarz Editorial
Arvind Kejriwal & the Aam Aadmi Party: An Inside Look – written by Pran Kurup
The Disruptor: Arvind Kejriwal and the Audacious Rise of the ‘Aam Aadmi’ – written by Gautam Chikermane and Soma Banerjee
Arvind Kejriwal Quotes
The speech he delivers that reflects his thoughts and views. What he believes, how he likes to change the society, what is his political views, everything are highlighted by his speech. Here I have collected some of Arvind Kejriwal Quotes from his seminars, talk shows, books and internet. I hope you will enjoy this quotes of Arvind Kejriwal.
Empowering Arvind Kejriwal Quotes
“Politics on education is a positive change, but dirty politics is not welcome.”
“To take a country on the path of progress, we must tackle health and education in mission mode.”
“Cheap electricity has become part of national political discourse. Delhi has shown that it is POSSIBLE to provide free/cheap electricity.”
“Our country has been deliberately kept illiterate and poor in the last 70 years. There is no dearth of money in the government. All that u need is the right INTENT.”
“Winning the trust and confidence of its people is most important for any government.”
“We may cut down on other things, but we should not reduce education budget.”
Inspiring Arvind Kejriwal Quotes
“When people join hands, anything can be achieved.”
“Inequality can only be reduced when governments invest in the basic needs of the people, like education and healthcare.”
“Freebies, in limited dose, are good for economy. It makes more money available to poor, hence boosts demand. However, it should be done in such limits so that no extra taxes have to be imposed and it does not lead to budget deficits.”
“Doesn’t matter. Many of them r filing for the first time. They r bound to make mistakes. We also made mistakes the first time. We should hand hold them.”
“ALL politicians r not corrupt. Now, there is a new breed of well educated, young, dynamic, honest n patriotic politicians who work for education, health, electric, water and overall development of country. These new politicians work for all irrespective of caste or religion.”
“India will truly develop when all states and parties learn from each other.”
“Education is the most empowering means to transform a country.”
Motivational Arvind Kejriwal Quotes
“My dream is to modernize Delhi’s public transport infrastructure so that it becomes a comfortable option for every citizen.”
“Welfare and well-being of common man is at the core of our governance initiatives.”
“People who are in public life should always be ready for any scrutiny.”
“The happiness and well-being of our children is a goal closest to my heart. It is the only promise for a better country tomorrow.”
“When those who can afford expensive private hospitals start using government services as a matter of choice, it’s the biggest certificate of quality.”
“When people are with you and they respond to your call for any action, it becomes possible to solve the most difficult problems.”
“If you vote for the corrupt you will get corruption. If you vote for the honest you will get a clean government.”
“When we were activists, we had several ideas on how the government ought to function. We pitched these ideas to the people and the people elected us to implement those ideas. This is democracy at work.”
Final Thoughts on Arvind Kejriwal Quotes and Biography
What do you think, isn’t interesting Arvind Kejriwal’s life-story? If you find this article is worthy to read, then feel free to share your thoughts with your friends. And also let us know your opinion by commenting below. If Arvind Kejriwal Quotes give you any inspiration, let us know. Thank you. Be mindful, be happy.
