Delhi Election News: Humble ‘muffler’ to grand ‘sheesh mahal’ – 13 years of politics & ‘scams’ of Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Election News: In November 2012, over a decade ago, Arvind Kejriwal, who, along with social activist Anna Hazare, had dominated headlines during the anti-corruption movement, decided to take the political plunge.

Then, Kejriwal said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) resulted from ‘our’ struggle against corruption-ridden Indian politics. On December 28, 2013, Kejriwal was sworn in as Chief Minister of Delhi in front of tens of thousands of supporters at the historic Ramlila Grounds in the national capital.

From ‘muffler' to ‘sheesh mahal’

In the past decade since, Arvind Kejriwal's image has changed. He is no longer seen as the trademark bespectacled coughing muffler-man who wears a Monte Carlo sweater and travels around in his iconic blue Wagon R. One can hardly notice the Reynolds 045 pen in his shirt pocket.

The former Income Tax officer was sworn in as Delhi's Chief Minister three times — 2013, 2015 and 2020. His Aam Aadmi Party is now a national party with a formidable presence in two key states — Delhi and Punjab until it lost assembly elections in the national capital to the BJP on February 8.

What did Arvind Kejriwal say over loss?

“We did not enter politics for power; we see politics as a medium to serve the people and to stand by them in times of need. We will continue this work, and in the future as well, we will remain committed to serving the people,” Kerjriwal said in a video message after Saturday's loss in Delhi Election.

Kejriwal tested waters in 2014 Lok Sabha election from Varanasi against Narendra Modi, the BJP candidate. Kejriwal finished second with over 2 lakh votes. Modi got 5.8 lakh votes.

Elsewhere, the party has won seats in Gujarat and Goa. The party has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha and one member in the Lok Sabha.

On March 21, 2024, Kejriwal, 55, became the first sitting Chief Minister of the country to be arrested for graft charges in the Delhi Liquor Policy by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED). On September 13, Kejriwal walked out of jail on bail by the Supreme Court. A few days later, Kejriwal resigned as CM. His party colleague Atishi took over.

What is the Delhi Liquor Policy Scam?

The Delhi Election 2025 was billed as the ‘toughest’ fight for the AAP, especially after the crisis it faced in the last two years. Almost the entire top leadership found itself in the middle of investigations by central investigation agencies over corruption allegations, mainly around the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam.

In the run-up to the Delhi Election 2025, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the alleged ‘lavish spending’ in the construction of Arvind Kejriwal's 6 Flagstaff Road residence—Sheesh Mahal—when he was chief minister before stepping down in September last year. Lavish washrooms is also one of the allegations against Kejriwal.

Kejriwal's alleged graft cases concern Delhi’s excise policy, which his government launched in 2021 to undertake significant reforms in the excise sector, including privatisation of liquor stores. Before Kejriwal, two senior party leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, were arrested in the same case.

Arvind Kejriwal is the second opposition Chief Minister to be arrested by ED in two different corruption cases in the last two months. Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was arrested by ED on January 31. Soren also came out on bail. His party, JMM, won the November 2024 assembly elections last year.

Due to his national presence, some political observers sometimes saw Arvind Kejriwal as one of the probable future challengers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

IITian who became CM three times

Born in the Bhiwani district of Haryana on August 16, 1968, Arvind Kejriwal is the first of the three children of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. His father was an electrical engineer who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology. Kejriwal graduated from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, majoring in mechanical engineering. He joined Tata Steel in 1989 and quit before becoming a civil servant in 1995.

While transitioning from ‘Muffler Man to a graft-accused living in ‘Sheesh Mahal’, Kejriwal has faced charges of being ‘politically dishonest’. Over the years, he has parted ways with many of his comrades, such as Kumar Vishwas, Prashant Bhushan, Ashutosh and Yogendra Yadav.

Saturday’s result is not just a setback for AAP; Arvind Kejriwal and his colleague Manish Sisodia have also lost their assembly seats. With AAP now out of power, all eyes will be on Kejriwal’s next moves and the status of his legal battles in corruption cases.