From IRS officer to Delhi CM, the rise and rise of Arvind Kejriwal

From praises to slaps and a lot of things in between, Arvind Kejriwal's political career is nothing short of revolution. 

Let's look at what made this average Joe an extraordinary leader and a household name in the capital.

Magsaysay award winner and former Indian Revenue Service officer Arvind Kejriwal forayed into politics after had a fall out with his mentor and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. Hazare wanted the Jan Lokpal movement to be neutral but Kejriwal felt that to make a difference, it is necessary to get involved in politics.

As a result, Arvind Kejriwal announced the formation of a political party on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2012. He formally launched the party on November 26, 2012, the day when the Constitution of India was adopted in 1949.

The party was called as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or the Common Man's Party.

On December 4, 2013, the party contested elections for the first time for the Delhi legislative assembly. Sheila Dikshit was defeated by Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi assembly constituency, who had been the Chief Minister of Delhi for three successive terms.

On December 28, 2013, Arvind Kejriwal was first sworn in as the Chief Minister. In February 2014, he resigned from the post and governed Delhi for only 49 days.

In the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party to win 67 of the 70 constituencies, leaving the BJP with three seats and Congress with none.

On February 14, 2015, he took oath as Delhi's chief minister for a second time at Ramlila Maidan. Since then his party passed the Jan Lokpal Bill though with some differences.

Riding on his popularity as leader of the masses, the Delhi chief minister ran a campaign on “kaam ki rajneeti (politics based on work) ” against the BJP's divisive rhetoric in 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.

As exit polls predicted, the Delhi chief minister secured a comfortable majority. AAP’s mohalla clinics, its efforts towards raising the standards of government school education, and its offer of free or subsidised electricity appear to have won it the working class and lower-income vote for Delhi.